Top 10 Screwtop Wines of 2011 - "Wine Experts with a Twist" The Saucy Sisters Reveal Their Picks

Dec. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December 2011) -- Speakers and wine experts Barbara Nowak and Beverly Pittman (known as The Saucy Sisters) are on a mission to elevate the reputation of screwtop wines and have selected their top 10 from among the thousands currently available.

“More and more wines are screwing off – if you’ll pardon the pun – and we’re not talking about cheap swill,” said Nowak.  “It used to be that screwtop wines were associated with winos guzzling from brown paper bags.  Ingrained images are hard to forget, but times have changed.”

The serious transition to screwtops began when an estimated 5-10% of wines were being spoiled because of corks infected with a chemical compound called TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole).  Wine producers looked to alternative closures to solve the problem, and the screwtop emerged as the most popular choice to date.

According to a recent survey conducted by Tragon Corporation, U.S. wine drinkers are not yet convinced that screwtop wines are a good choice.  While consumers in other countries such as New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom have overwhelmingly adopted the twist-off, American wine buyers still associate cork with quality.  

“Who would be more concerned about quality than the wine makers?” asked Pittman.  “Considering the growing number of wine makers who’ve switched to screwtops, it seems about time that wine drinkers start to embrace them as well.”

The Saucy Sisters have some practical reasons for liking screwtops in addition to solving the problem of “corked” wine and have spelled them out in their new book, The Saucy Sisters Guide to Wine – What Every Girl Should Know Before She Unscrews.  Among them:  No performance anxiety with unscrewing; no need to pack a corkscrew that ends up being confiscated by the TSA; you can lay down half-empty bottles in the fridge without their leaking.

The Saucy Sisters’ Top 10 List of Screwtop Wines for 2011 represents a variety of wine regions, varietals, styles and price points.  In ascending order of approximate average price, the wines are:

•   Lonely Cow Sauvignon Blanc – Marlborough, New Zealand – $10
•   Crios de Susana Balbo Rosé of Malbec – Mendoza, Argentina – $12
•   Barista Pinotage – Paarl, South Africa – $13
•   Von Schleinitz Slatestone Dry Riesling – Mosel, Germany – $14
•   Clayhouse Vineyard Malbec – Paso Robles, California – $15
•   Inman Family Chardonnay – Russian River Valley, California – $30
•   Patrice Rion Côte de Nuits-Villages  – Burgundy, France – $30
•   Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir – Williamette Valley, Oregon – $35
•   Yalumba “The Virgilius” Viognier – Eden Valley, Australia – $40
•   Mollydooker Carnival of Love Shiraz - McLaren Vale, Australia – $95

“We have nothing against corks,” reassured Nowak.  “But let’s face it.  If we were inventing wine today for the first time, what’s the likelihood that we’d plug the bottle opening with a piece of bark from a tree in Portugal?”

The video book trailer for The Saucy Sisters Guide to Wine – What Every Girl Should Know Before She Unscrews can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW3-yHdEclQ    



For more information about The Saucy Sisters or their new book, call (615) 807-1743, send an email inquiry to Saucies@SaucySisters.com, or visit http://www.SaucySisters.com.

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The Saucy Sisters, Barbara Nowak and Beverly Pittman, are speakers and wine experts who've written several books on wine including the recently released The Saucy Sisters Guide to Wine - What Every Girl Should Know Before She Unscrews. They perform at food and wine festivals and at corporate events. And when they're not perched on their favorite barstools, they can be found in classrooms educating wine enthusiasts of all kinds.