Databank. Wine closures

Citation

(1999), "Databank. Wine closures", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 99 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.1999.01799baf.009

Databank. Wine closures

Databank

Wine closures

In 1998 Clayton Reed Associates, an independent market research agency, were commissioned by Sabate SA, producers of the Altec cork to assess UK wine consumers' preferences towards wine closures. UK consumers expressed a clear preference for cork closures with 84 per cent preferring cork to plastic, 81 per cent preferring cork to metal screw top and 58 per cent preferring plastic to metal screw top. The most popular characteristics of cork were "traditional" followed by the "pop of the cork" and "feel of a natural substance". A total of 40 per cent agreed with the statement that "plastic and metal screw top spoil the event and decrease the pleasure of wine consumption". The affinity for cork is sufficiently strong for 25 per cent of those interviewed to claim that if supermarkets introduced plastic or metal screw caps in the wines they normally bought, they would buy their wines elsewhere. Although 69 per cent of consumers supported the idea that the perfect closure would be cork without any possible cork taint, 32 per cent agreed that metal closures can adversely affect the taste of wine while 26 per cent claimed that plastic closures had an adverse effect on taste.

By removing most of the lignin/wood content from ordinary cork, Sabate has eradicated the problems of cork taint. Altec contains 1.5 times more pure cork than ordinary cork stoppers. Bottles can be safely stored horizontally or vertically. Superior elasticity allows for easy extraction of the cork without splitting or crumbling and good sealing qualities prevent leaks, ensuring clean labels, clean cases and no damage to packaging during transit. A further bonus of Altec corks is their constant permeability which controls the ageing process by keeping gaseous exchange at uniform levels.