Beringer Blass to Release Screw Cap Only Brand

TwoTone Farm will debut with 25,000 cases of Chardonnay and Merlot.

Posted: August 26, 2003

Beringer Blass Wine Estates will release a new line of wines topped off exclusively by screw caps in September. The brand, called TwoTone Farm, is the first screw cap only line to be introduced by a major Napa Valley wine company.

The wine company will distribute 25,000 cases nationally of TwoTone Farm, named for a painting by Santa Fe, N.M., artist Patrick McFarlin that will appear on its label.

The line is a collaboration between two assistant winemakers at Beringer-owned wineries -- Tres Goetting of St. Clement and Danielle Cyrot of Stags' Leap Winery -- and will feature two wines: a Napa Valley Chardonnay ($12) and a Napa Valley Merlot ($14). "They wanted to make the kind of wines that they could drink everyday," said Beringer spokeswoman Maura Cronin.

Although cork is still the most common wine closure, more and more wineries -- especially those in Australia, New Zealand and the United States -- are experimenting with screw caps as a way to reduce the incidence of cork taint in their wines. Many winemakers now agree that screw caps are better than corks at preserving a wine's freshness, but the jury is still out on whether screw caps are appropriate for wines destined for prolonged aging.

Beringer Blass has already made a major commitment to screw caps with two of its imported Australian brands, Annie's Lane and Wolf Blass. "We believe that screw caps have a pretty viable future, and there is more and more trade and consumer acceptance of this closure," said Cronin. "But each winery should decide for itself which closure to use. We believe there's room for all closures -- cork and its alternatives."

Learn more about corks and other closures: