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JANUARY NEWS Suppliers Spar Over Closures Merits and sustainability of corks, synthetics and screw tops debated at Davis forum D avis, Calif.���While consumers find plenty of room for argument about which wine is No. 1, winemakers and suppliers can be just as combative about which closure is best. As part of its ongoing Wine Flavor 101 series of lectures and seminars, the University of California, Davis, gathered representatives from the cork, synthetic and screw top camps for a forum held Dec. 6. Late in the afternoon during a panel discussion about the sustainability of closures, Tim Keller, founder and CEO of VinPerfect, a new company that has patented an oxygen-permeable liner for aluminum screw tops, made an aggressive pitch for the sustainability of aluminum closures vs. the cork industry���s sustainable claims. Prior to the discussion, UC Davis��� Dr. Andrew Waterhouse, who moderated the panel, requested the speakers not focus on claims made in privately funded cloGovtLiaison_Dir08 11/29/07 2:00 PM sure research. TTB LABEL APPROVALS Low per-label costs Gov���t. Liaison Negotiations or Footwork Reasonable Hourly Rates TRADEMARK SEARCHES As Low as $185 Your trade names or designs are searched at the U.S. Patent Office to help establish valuable ownership or avoid costly legal liability. Over 100 years��� total staff experience handling every government liaison need for industry. Phone or write for details. 200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 321 Arlington, Virginia 22203 Phone: (703) 524-8200 Fax: 525-8451 TOLL-FREE 1-800-642-6564 Major Credit Cards Accepted www.trademarkinfo.com Since 1957 26 W in e s & V i ne s JANUARY 20 13 VinPerfect patented an oxygen-permeable liner for aluminum screw tops. Doubting cork industry claims Keller, however, went right at Corticeira Pag Amorim���s ���life cycle��� analysis report (released in 2008), which concluded that cork had a far lower output of carbon dioxide than competing closures. He said the report is largely based on the premise that cork forests provide a natural offset to the emission of greenhouse gases through cork production and shipment. Yet Keller argued the cork forest would keep growing and absorbing CO2 even if the wine industry stopped using cork, so it���s inaccurate to use the natural forest as an offset to production. ���The cork forest is a non-sequitur,��� he said. winesandvines.com He went on to Learn more: Search keywords add that alumi���sustainable closures.��� num is almost exclusively manufactured using hydroelectric power and is an excellent material for recycling. ���You don���t see people wandering around the streets with bags of corks,��� he said. ���Aluminum will be recycled because it���s profitable to do so.��� Keller also argued that natural cork���s rate of failure outweighs any sustainable Winemaking students learn overseas B end, Ore.���Umpqua Community College student Matt Cates traveled overseas this fall to learn the craft of making fine Tempranillo at Dominio de Cair, a new winery near the town of Aranda de Duero in Spain���s DO Ribera del Duero (Burgos) region���one of the country���s two winesandvines.com pre-eminent locales for Tempranillo. Learn more: Search keywords ���student internships.��� Cates is just the latest Northwest viticulture and enology student venturing overseas for experience. Many have traveled through a longstanding (but low-key) program the Oregon University System developed in 1996 with $4 million in federal funds that came as a so-called ���peace dividend��� following the end of the Cold War. Known as IE3 Global Internships, the program has supported the work of more than 1,500 students in 82 countries during the past 16 years. Of those, 18 have been viticulture and enology students. ���Our first student was in the summer of 1999 to a wine chateau in France,��� Cynthia Engel, Europe and Oceania internships director for IE3 Global Internships, told Wines & Vines. ���The students have been to Tours, France, and to Cape Town, South Africa.��� The program works with 17 schools to place 190 students per year, and IE3 is seeking to expand internship opportunities for viticulture and enology students. ���This is fairly new,��� Engel said. ���We are looking to expand our options at this point.��� ���Peter Mitham