Shut It!

Few issues generate as much heated debate as the bit in the top of the bottle that stops the wine falling out. Penny Boothman presents a roundup of this highly innovative sector .

It’s not exactly a subject to set the world on fire, but it affects all of us every time we want a glass of wine. Do you find yourself bemoaning the necessity of a corkscrew? Or are you a romantic who likes to hear the pop of cork from bottle? For producers the wrong decision can be ruinous, but with so many criteria to fill and so many options to choose from, the closures market is complicated to say the least and everyone has an opinion – including the retailers. Most UK retailers have a positive stance on screwcaps, but it’s a different story on the continent . Also, finding the right closure for the enormous own-label sector protects the sales, and credibility, of the retailing giants, just as Sainsbury’s public backing of Oeneo’s Diam corks shows its renewed confidence in this kind of closure.

There’s plenty to consider when making a decision, from TCA, to random oxidation, leakage, ease of getting the stopper out of – and back into – the bottle, and even trying to get it off the corkscrew in the first place.

And then there is the thorny issue of consumer perception, what do consumers really want? Research abounds from all corners of the sector, and curiously everyone seems to have found a pool of consumers who prefer their type of stopper. But this is where market sector targeting comes in. If you have a £25 bottle of premium Cabernet Sauvignon, a synthetic stopper may not be a wise choice, but if you’ve got a £4.99 Sauvignon Blanc, the consumer practically expects an alternative closure. Most British drinkers have embraced the screwcap, but in France colourful synthetics are finding a home in the new breed of French brands. Alongside this, natural cork is fighting its corner, and with new methods of overcoming the taint issue, some large (but anonymous) producers are returning to tree bark. T

his is one of the fastest changing sectors of the wine industry, where innovation and technology are bringing new products to the market every year. Alcoa’s Vino Lok is one of the newest kids on the block, but the glass-on-glass technology is already finding favour with the premium wine sector. There’s something out there for every wine style at every price point, no matter what the retailer and consumer preference.

The global wine market continues to grow, and all those bottles need something in the top to stop the wine falling out, but what to choose? We’ve asked the manufacturers to tell you in their own words, and on page 64 we ask some leading industry figures for their views on the subject. And if you still can’t make your mind up after all of that, well, there’s always bag-in-box.

NEOCORK

Co-extruded synthetic stopper made from an inner core of low density polyethylene (LDPE) foam and an outer skin of thermoplastic elastomer. Cost: $60-$120 per 1,000 corks

Production: Precise sales figures not disclosed, but Neocork ship “tens of millions per month”

Clients include: Casa Girelli, Valdivieso, Zimmerman & Graeff, and UK retailers such as Sainsbury’s and Thresher

Head office details: 755 Skyway Court, Napa Valley, CA 94558, USA

Contact: Mark Coleman, mcoleman@neocork.com “Neocork’s patented co-extrusion technology ensures a more consistent closure in terms of bottling-line performance, extraction force and wine quality,” says Mark Coleman, director of global business development. “Our technology allows us to offer various oxygen transfer rates.” The 1.5 year, 3 year and 5-plus year closure profiles are designed to suit different wines. “Our future plans include corks manufactured to best reflect wine consumption/ageability profiles.”

SUPREME CORQ

Injection-moulded, food-grade, thermoplastic elastomer, available in 45mm and 38mm lengths and T-Top stoppers

Cost: from £0.04 to £0.08 per SupremeCorq

Production: sales of over 500 million corqs last year

Clients include: Constellation, Diageo, Vincor, Concha y Toro, and Kumala

Head office details: Supreme Corq LLC, 5901 South 226th Street, Kent, WA 98032, USA

Contact: Simon Waller, simonw@supremecorq.com “We’ve had a very good level of acceptance from retailers, firstly in the UK but it’s also now progressing around Europe,” comments Simon Waller, vice president, European sales. “Europe is a huge market for wine and is really driving a lot of our growth. France produced something like 3.5bn bottles of wine last year and only about 50 million used the screwcap finish. That’s 1.3% of the bottles with a screwcap, but the figure with synthetic corks is again up at around the 15% level.” Supreme Corq invests in considerable consumer research. “What we found there is that consumers really value the ‘ease of use’ critera above all else. Fortunately, Supreme Corq is the easiest synthetic cork to get back in the bottle so we’re well positioned as that becomes more appreciated.”

NOMACORC

Co-extruded, polymer-based, medium density, chemically inert synthetic stoppers.

Cost: €110 per 1000 closures Production: 860 million closures last year

Clients include: Robert Mondavi Winery, Reh Kendermann, Southcorp, Michel Laroche

Head office details: Nomacorc SA, z.i. les Plénesses, Chemin de Xhénorie 7, B-4890 Thimister – Clermont, Belgium. +32 87 63 88 20, info@nomacorc.com

Contact: François Denis, sales & marketing manager Europe and South Africa, f.denis@nomacorc.be “Winemakers looking for protection, consistency, superior quality standards and a closure with a pop, find the nomacorc closure to be a perfect fit,” says Suzanne Alardin, communication and PR manager for Nomacorc. “Nomacorc uses the combination of a solid technology and wine know-how to create a closure that out-performs other synthetic closures, has a natural wood-grain appearance, imparts no taste or smell to your wine, and offers realistic expectation for its use. We’re not just protecting tradition, we’re making it better.” Nomacorc is available in Light, Smart, Classic and Premium versions for different styles of wine in multiple market segments.

CROWN UCP

Range of metal bottle closures including VinGuard screwcaps, 30 x 60 BVS finish and 22×30 for the single serve PET Cost: Subject to specification and service package

Production: 1.1 billion a year

Clients include: Pacific Wine Partners, Pasqua, Waverley TBS

Head office details: Crown UCP, 1 Steuart Road, Bridge of Allan, Stirling FK9 4JG

Contact: Fiona Reith, fiona.reith@eur.crowncork.com “Crown UCP is a division of Crown Holdings Inc., one of the world’s largest packaging groups,” explains Fiona Reith, key account director, Crown UCP. “Our wine closure range, VinGuard, includes the commonly used PET bottle that we also manufacture. Crown UCP will continue to introduce new closures to the VinGuard range. Wine closures represent over 10% of our sales volume and are growing very fast. New capacity is planned in line with this growth. Wine brand owners today have a wider choice of packaging available to help them to protect and position their brands. Crown UCP’s VinGuard is a quality screwcap backed up by Crown UCP’s renowned service and technical support, we have the research and technical expertise to help customers with the full service whether it be transitioning to screwcap for the first time or helping them to improve on their existing pack in terms of design or performance.”

AMORIM

Natural cork stoppers, twin tops, agglomerates and sparkling wine corks treated with the Rosa system of controlled steam distillation to reduce incidence of TCA by 80%

Cost: from €25 per 1,000 for agglomerates, to €750/800 per 1,000 top-grade whole cork closures

Production: over three billion cork stoppers last year

Clients include: Client list confidential

Head office details: regional offices throughout the world

Contact: Carlos de Jesus, c.dejesus.ai@amorim.com “The Rosa process is undoubtedly important but it is only one of several measures that when combined are more efficient,” says Carlos de Jesus, director of marketing. “I think the best indicator is that we’re selling more corks than ever, and that we’re having all-time low complaints.” Customers who switched to alternative stoppers are now coming back to cork as the TCA issue is being resolved. “I wish I could give you their names! Until recently the main argument in terms of plastic stoppers was price, but today we have a product range that fits every single price point. Also, whether people like to admit it or not we still have the overwhelming preference of consumers.”

OENEO BOUCHAGE

Natural cork stoppers treated with the Diam method of TCA extraction through use of supercritical CO2, as well as screwcaps (S-Cap) and moulded synthetics (Starcork)

Cost: (per 1000) synthetics US$50-$70; screwcaps US$100- $120; Diam US$150-$200, depending on volumes.

Production: Global sales of Diam: 30m (July 04-June 05), total Oeneo sales 2004: 1.2bn

Clients include: Maison Louis Jadot, Bouchard Pere et Fils, McGuigan Simeon, Stellenzicht Head office details: Oeneo Bouchage, Espace Tech Ulrich, 66 400 Céret, France, +33 (0)4 68 87 20 20,

Contact: Dean Bannister, dbanister@oeneo-closures.com.au “We’ve sold 30 million closures now and have about 800 users around the world,” says Dean Bannister, head of Oeneo Closures Australasia and UK. “One of the things we notice is that it’s easy to recognise when a bottle’s closed with screwcap, but if it’s closed with Diam then you don’t know. Now we’ve got some of the big retailers looking at putting something on the label explaining the closure and why they’ve used it. I liken it to when you look at a computer it has the ‘Intel inside’ on it and we’ve got this concept of ‘Diam inside.’”

GUALA

Range of roll-on, snap-on and tamperevident closures

Cost: N/A Production: 5.5 bn closures per year

Clients include: Allied Domecq, Diageo, Pernod-Ricard, Constellation, Vincor

Head office details: Guala Closures UK Ltd, Old Mill Park Estate, Kirkintilloch, Glasgow, G66 1ST, 0141 7772000

Contact: Ray Bruen, 0870 760553 The Guala Closures Group offers a range of solutions including the Divinum® screwcap, TOPP® Cap and WAK® wine closure. “The group has more than doubled its market share in New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina and the UK and is making tremendous strides in France and Italy,” says Anne Seznec, marketing, Guala Closures. “The group has the highest reinvestment programme for R&D in the industry with the biggest centre of research on closures with more than 50 years of experience. This concentration of purpose has earned the group a reputation for high-quality, innovative closures. In fact, Guala Closures have become signature elements to some of the world’s leading brands,” she adds.

VINO LOK

Glass stopper closure system with rubberized O-rings to provide a sterile seal, and an aluminum cap over the bottle to ensure mechanical protection and tamper proofing

Cost: €0.30 per closure Production: expected to reach 10 million in 2005

Clients include: Schloss Vollrads, Cantine Aldegheri, Charles Favre

Head office details: Alcoa Deutschland GmbH, Mainzer Strasse 185, 67547 Worms, Germany

Contact: Thomas Strieder, thomas.strieder@alcoa.com “Vino Lok is really a new product,” says Thomas Strieger, business development manager, Alcoa CSI. “We’ve only been on the market for six months and in that time more than 240 wineries have moved to Vino Lok. We started in Germany, also in Austria and a few weeks ago we started in Italy and Switzerland and we have new customers in France and Spain.” Vino Lok has also done some test fillings in South Africa and is looking at Australia and the USA. “There’s a huge move to this system. We have talked with a lot of retailers, and we have started now with three retailers in Germany.” Vino Lok has been displaying collarettes on bottles closed with its system to introduce consumers to the new type of closure, and the consumer response is very encourging. “People are saying this is the first alternative to high-quality cork,” he adds.