Excerpts From: Wine Business Monthly Closure Survey - June 2007

Protecting the Wine

Respondents' ratings for product performance of natural corks, in terms of protecting the wine, were slightly higher than in previous years (Chart 3). Technical corks and screw caps received about the same ratings as previous surveys. The consistent rating for screw caps, as on par with natural corks, seems to imply that, despite the general interest in research concerning reductive aromas developing under screw caps, most winemakers don't view this as a problem.

Synthetic closures are usually targeted for use with wines that are made and consumed within a 12- to 18-month time frame. Given this positioning, it should not be surprising that the respondents tended to rate synthetics lower than other closures for longer-term bottle aging. Angelo Pavan from Ontario's Cave Spring Cellars was one of many winemakers that took this view: "We have found with all synthetic closures we have used that there has been a rapid loss of Free SO 2 and, therefore, we've had very premature aging."

The respondents' product performance ratings for synthetic closures has declined steadily for the past several surveys, even with the steady improvements that have been made in the product over the last decade.