When the tasters at Wine Spectator make a suggestion about how long to keep a bottle before opening, do they take into account the type of closure (cork, screw cap, etc.) the bottle has?
No, closures aren´t considered when coming up with drink recommendations; instead, our tasters focus on a wine´s style. So, if they think a wine is meant for near-term drinking, that´s what they´ll say whether the wine is under cork or screw cap (though most producers who choose screw caps use them for drink-me-now styles). If a wine is recommended for cellaring, there´s no need to alter the tasting note depending on the closure. There´s a theory that wines with screw caps might age slower than wines under corks, but most folks can´t tell the difference in a blind tasting.