Yes, this is what I have since been told: that some NZ wine producers were "forcing" the acceptance of screw caps by just using them. I didn't know there was a shortage of good cork but have been told by a winemaker (AOK_Farmer) that screw cap was the IDEAL way to seal a wine bottle.
Brom,
I had never seen screw caps on wine over $2 a bottle (& thankfully haven't seen any of those $2 bottles for ~35 years). I "assumed" that a screw cap meant that the producer expected his wine to be cheap (a la Ripple) and didn't know of this little "uprising" down under.
I do not consider a $19 or $13 bottle of wine to be "cheap".
Worldman