Screwed

In just two years the New Zealand wine industry is on track to having 20% of its wine in Stelvin. Is their courage paying off? Charlotte Hey reports

IT WOULD BE fair to say that after the initial efforts of the Clare Valley producers in Australia, the New Zealand wine industry has championed the cause for screwcap closures on quality wine.

In February 2001 the New Zealand Screwcap Wine Seal Initiative was launched, and its members now total more than 30 high quality wine producers with some companies, like Villa Maria, having switched their whole production over to Stelvin closures.

"This is still a very controversial subject," admits George Fistonich, managing director of Villa Maria, "and although we are getting a tremendous amount of support from the trade and press, there are still large sections of the population that don’t understand the benefits of screwcaps."

To overcome this, Villa Maria has come up with a number of initiatives, depending on the nature of the enquiry or sometimes "abuse" that it receives.  Fistonich asserts that it’s a constant battle. 

"As you can see, there is still a need for constant education to both the trade and the public, however, we have been delighted to observe that, providing we promptly send a reply to the varying enquiries, many of the people are coming back to us, thanking us for the information and turning into missionaries for the screwcap cause."

So, just how much New Zealand wine is being sealed with screwcap closures? Latest wine bottle usage figures show a rapid increase in the proportion of New Zealand wines using screwcaps since the introduction of screwcaps to premium New Zealand wines in May 2001 (see box).

While glass sales figures for 2003 are not yet available, obviously, the bold in the industry are predicting that the continued consumer demand for quality will result in sales of screwcap glass in New Zealand topping 20% in the second half of this year.

Michael Brajkovich, chairman of the New Zealand Screwcap Wine Seal Initiative and winemaker at Kumeu River Wines, confirms this.  "The market for screwcap closures in New Zealand has expanded from a zero starting point two years ago to an estimated annual market of 17 million currently.

By the end of this year this will represent about 20% of New Zealand wine.  This rapid uptake of the concept has been greatly helped by the information we have been able to provide to our customers, and also to the support of the wine media around the world who have been very positive about the benefits of using screwcaps.

As a net result, even more producers are now looking at the possibility of using screwcaps." Estimating that at least 1 in 12 of their bottles of wine are affected by TCA, Tesco has widely publicised its commitment to have 50% of its stock in Stelvin by the end of 2003, a figure estimated to be over 100 million bottles.

This kind of dedication to the cause can only increase the demand on producers to look to Stelvin as a taint-free seal.  The industry has known for a long time of the technical superiority of the screwcap closure but, as has been documented, there has always been a doubt about its market acceptability.

"A few years ago," continues Brajkovich, "the problems with cork were not as significant as they are now.  Times have changed and, it is now obvious to us, so have peoples’ attitudes towards screwcaps.

Consumers are much more informed than in the past, and their own negative experiences with cork-taint have made them also very accepting of an alternative that is based on preserving wine quality."

The latest drive by some of the wine world’s top producers to convert to screwcap has only helped in the increased use of Stelvin and convinced the consumer that screwcap should not only be relegated to use on cheap wines.

The dedication of the premium New Zealand wine producing industry has helped to champion this cause further.

The following figures show the proportion of screwcap bottles sold to NZ wine producers in the previous two years:

January – June 2001 0% screwcap

July – December 2001 2.3% screwcap

January – June 2002 7.0% screwcap

July – December 2002 14.4% screwcap

For more information on the initiative look at www.screwcap.co.nz