Yes, it’s not April, and I’m not fooling you. I was talking to a wine colleague recently who told me that the venerable Bordeaux producer, whose wines are among the world’s most expensive, has been experimenting with screw caps for almost five years now.

While its no biggie for the New World. Fifty percent of Australia’s wines are sealed under a cap, and another 50 come in a box. But, for the French, putting a cap on the familiar sound of a popping cork is like drinking coq au vin with something other than Burgundy. Slightly revolutionary.

But France is not exempt from the head aches and heart aches associated with cork, namely taint that results from oxidation. And we’re not talking about dumping a $7.99 south eastern Australian Shiraz here. It’s rumored that Romanee-Conti, whose legendary Burgundies fetch tens of thousands of dollars, are phasing out corks as well.

Another famous Burgundian producer, Jean-Claude Boisset, already uses them on top wines such as the Chambertin grand cru. About 70,000 of Boisset’s 200,000 bottles use screw tops.

While I don’t have any horrible personal experiences associated with cork (see those in George Taber’s “To Cork or Not To Cork”), I’m all about efficiency, the environment, and fewer wines that smell like wet basement. I’ve gone over and over it in my head and while I truly enjoy the rush and romance of the pull, I know the future of what’s best for wine and even wine aging is on the inside of a cap.

Just this year, the number of wines under screw cap has increased to 2.5 billion from 300 million in 2003. It is estimated that by 2015 the number of screw capped wines will outnumber wines under cork. Unless the cork industry can come up with ways to prevent oxidized, corked wines, this figure is not hard to believe. What are your thoughts? Can you let go of the romance?