Geoffrey Dean takes a look at Closures and the many options available to producers
The word ‘closure’ is on Australian minds at the time of writing, just
after the Olympics. While nearly all Aussies will want it following
their paltry medal haul at the London Games, the question of which
closure to embrace has long been exorcising many minds in the
country’s wine industry. And just like their cricket selectors, who
have been trying out all sorts of unknowns following their Ashes
humiliation by England last year, Australian producers have been
changing horses. Yes, even from screwcap to cork. One Barossa winery,
Rusden, has reverted due to overly dominant reductive characters
produced under Stelvin. Meanwhile, De Bortoli have done the opposite
with their sparkling wines – putting them under screwcap. That is a
first for any bubbly worldwide in full-size 75cl bottles, so hats off
to them and Guala Closures, who make the specially designed stoppers.
If that is a notable breakthrough – allowing easier closure removal
and enabling carbonation to be maintained for days after opening if
the stopper is reapplied – natural cork is showing no sign of
relenting in its fightback against screwcap. There will always be
exceptions to the rule, such as Domaine Laroche in Burgundy, but
helped in no small part by increasing demand in China for imported
wine and the Chinese predilection for cork, all exporters to that
country are having to be pragmatic.
“Australian wineries are having to accept that China wants cork –
there’s no room to dictate individual preferences,” says Tony Royal,
national commercial director of Australia’s largest independent wine
services supplier, Portavin. “For China, it’s all about the natural
cork. Synthetic is considered by most consumers there as cheap
screwcap.” Australia remains the second biggest exporter of wine to
China behind France.
This is, of course, music to the ears of the behemoth of natural cork
producers, Amorim, whom the Rusden winemaker, Christian Canute,
publicly praised last month, declaring ‘complete confidence’ in their
product. The Portuguese company’s charismatic director of marketing,
Carlos de Jesus, while revealing that 2011 was the third year in
succession that Amorim recorded record sales growth, eloquently stated
his case.
“We believe wineries and major retailers are returning to cork because
of consumer preference, vast improvements in the quality of cork, the
emerging limitations of alternative closures and a growing awareness
of environmental advantages.” He added that sales of Forestry
Stewardship Council (FSC) approved closures are up, as are those of
Aquamark (whole cork with water-based coating), which is now used by
700 wineries worldwide after its 2008 launch; and of Twin Top stoppers
(discs of natural cork, glued to each end of an agglomerate baton).
The latter have been bolstered by strong supermarket demand.
Just as British Olympians were driven on those extra yards by
thunderous home support, so Amorim are drawing strength from the very
public endorsement of natural cork from wineries around the world.
“Rusden are not a one-off, for there are other key names in the
pipeline ready to announce their return to cork later this year in
both Australia and South Africa.” de Jesus revealed. “Rutherford Wine
Company has reverted from synthetic closures to cork, citing both
environmental and technical benefits. Another Californian winery,
Sbragia, have given us strong backing, as have Guigal, Yquem and DRC
in France. Klein Constantia in South Africa have moved their reserve
sauvignon blanc from screwcap to cork.
“But, as much as has been done, we must continue to innovate and
improve. We are investing 5 million euros per annum on R&D.” In the
last year, Amorim have opened up a new factory to increase production
of ‘Neutrocork’, their successful technical cork which is treated by
their ‘Rosa’ steam-cleaning equipment that can reduce TCA from six
nanograms per litre to an undetectable 1ng/l. In 2013, Amorim are
planning to launch a new, as yet unspecified, product.
Amorim’s rise and rise is mirrored by that of Nomacorc, the synthetic
cork producer whose 2.4bn annual unit sales represent 13% of the
closures market . That share has risen every year since the start of
the company in 1999, with its products now used by 30 of the top 40
volume wineries in the world. Nomacorc’s newest invention, the Select
100 series which became available this year, is what Malcolm Thompson,
vice-president of marketing and innovation, hopes will increase the
company’s market share to 20%.
“This is the most important product in our portfolio. Its strength is
that it services two ends of the quality scale,” he said. “Why it’s so
advanced is that it’s the perfect seal for wine aimed at rapid
consumption, keeping aroma and freshness alike. But if you want to
keep it longer, the closure starts to breathe a bit, preventing
reduction. I anticipate we will take market share from screwcaps,
especially in Germany and France where there’s a near crisis due to
lack of control on bottling lines with leakage.”
Screwcap and Nomacorc have been scrapping it out lately for leadership
of the alternative closure race, managing almost three quarters of the
market between them. Nomacorc lead by a short head, but screwcap will
take encouragement from the fact that a producer as big as Laroche use
the aluminium top for 70% of their annual output of 2 million bottles.
Laroche are the only winery to use screwcap for their whole range,
including Grand Cru Chablis, while the likes of La Chablisienne employ
it for Premier Cru and lesser wines.
According to Sandrine Audegond, director of sales and marketing for
Laroche, there is scant chance the company will increase cork usage.
“We introduced screwcap ten years ago after a few years of
experimentation. Cork quality not oxidation was our problem. We had
too much TCA – about 7-8% - even though we tried several cork
manufacturers. We know that cork quality is far better now but 80% of
our wines are exported, and our clients overseas have a preference for
screwcap, even in the United States [where cork is king]. The Germans
and Norwegians also like screwcap, but where people prefer cork, like
France, we use it. It’s absolutely true that development is slower
under screwcap, but we use micro-oxygenation.”
The choice of liner for screwcap is, of course, all-important – either
one layer of saranex (for wines for short to medium-term drinking) or
two layers of saran and tin (for longer-term consumption as ten times
less oxygen ingress is allowed). Laroche would choose the latter and
more expensive (by 20%) option for their top wines, although Audegond
says it is no pricier than natural cork. “We tried synthetic cork but
we don’t see the point,” she told Harpers. “Screwcap is also more
convenient for customers to use. It’s a question of practicality. We
also like it as we can decrease the amount of sulphur dioxide in the
wine.” The EU limit for SO2 in unsweetened whites is 200mg/l but
Laroche have managed to reduce their levels of it from just over 100
under cork to to an average of 80 under screwcap.
While the battle among well-established closure producers for market
share of the 18.5 billion bottles of still wine produced every year
rages on, a couple of new pretenders are ready to join the fray.
Bacchus Closures and Ardea Seal may not be overly familiar names yet,
but they are likely to become ever more so. The former, set up by
Englishman David Taylor, has come up with the ‘Bacchus Barrier’, a
thin transparent coating (applied to each end of a cork) that contains
several layers including a high performance polymer barrier, EVOH
(ethylene vinol alcohol). Also used in bag in box, this stops
oxidation as well as TCA at levels between 5-10 ng/l getting through
to the wine for a minimum four years. TCA becomes detectable to most
drinkers at 6ng/l.
“Everyone we see says there is no flavour scalping and that wine has
never tasted so good under nanocork,” Taylor said of his closure. “ACI
[Alvaro Coelho & Irmaos]are our partners, but the best thing is to
take it to all the other cork producers. We expect to sell 100 million
nanocorks per annum with the potential of going to 2-4 billion. It’s
going to take off. We’ve recently sold 10m to Aveleda, the vinho verde
producer, as well as to wineries in America, Spain, Italy and
Switzerland. UK supermarkets are particularly interested, partly for
sustainability reasons but also because they’re having problems with
reduction in screwcaps.”
The results of a two-year trial that the AWRI conducted on a Clare
Valley semillon under all closures were a triumph for Taylor. While
the wines under nanocork were fresh, intense and fruity with long
persistence, those under screwcap and synthetic closures were
characterized by a higher OD420 (colour intensity), honey, esters and
oxidation.
While Bacchus Barrier is aimed at natural cork, Ardea Seal have
devised a synthetic cork, named AS-Elite. Made in Italy, this allows a
certain amount of oxygen to be released into the wine. After tests to
ascertain an ideal oxygen transmission rate, namely 90-120 ppm over
ten years, two Burgundian wineries, Domaines Ponsot and Comte Senard,
are now committed to the closure, which is less than half the proce of
natural cork, while a number of Cote d’Or players are also trialling
it.
Which of the runners and riders to back in the ever developing world
of wine closures is a question that has long been vexing global
producers. When the director of a first growth, Paul Pontalier of
Chateau Margaux, is unsure even after ten years of closure trials,
thinking another 10-20 years of evidence is necessary, we should be
shy of a general conclusion. Each to their own perhaps.
...