And although a degree of snobbishness remains, screwtop-bottled wine is becoming ever more accepted by UK consumers, and several leading brands, such as Blossom Hill and Hardy's, have moved over to the format.
However, the trend has severe consequences for Europe's cork industry. To halt the shift towards screwtop bottles, an alliance of Portuguese cork producers is looking to hire an agency to launch a £2m campaign promoting the benefits of cork-sealed wine.
The consortium of manufacturers held an open meeting with agencies last week to explain its aims, ahead of launching a pitch process through on the European Union's tender website.
A campaign will focus on convincing consumers and retailers that cork is more environmentally friendly than screw-tops and better for the flavour of the wine.
Corks are a source of huge debate in the wine industry, with some experts claiming that a significant proportion of wine bottles are tainted by damaged corks.
Conversely, cork producers argue that screw-top bottles do not allow the wine to breathe, meaning consumers may be confronted with the smell of sulphur when opening the bottle.
Nevertheless, according to market analyst Mintel, consumers are hardly bothered either way. Mintel's latest research, 5% of consumers said they were influenced to buy wine with a cork instead of screwtop, while 6% preferred screwtops to cork wine.
Tammy Smulders, managing director at branding consultancy SCB Partners, says cork will always have a role in the market: ‘Screwtop wines have certainly increased acceptance, but consumers do appreciate the ritual associated with the cork and opening a bottle with the corkscrew.'
Can a campaign change customer behaviour when consumers are so apathetic? A recent example of a fight to reverse wider trends occurred when the carpet industry launched a campaign to convince housebuyers of the superiority of carpet over wooden floorboards.
2008's ‘Fun on the floor' outdoor ad campaign, backed by the consumer website Funonthefloor.com, argued that ‘Nothing feels like a new carpet'.
It was not the first time the carpet industry had promoted its opulent virtues. In 2003, in the months after the UK's biggest carpet manufacturer, Carpet International, went under, the industry put out a £1m campaign under the banner ‘Come back to carpet'.