Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/543749
August 2015 WINES&VINES 37 PACKAGING "On so many levels, we are going 'back to basics' at St. Francis. We have recently launched our St. Francis Reserve line, with wines sealed exclusively in natural cork. Our mainstream Sonoma County Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvi- gnon, Merlot and my favorite old vine Zinfan- del are now sealed in natural cork," he noted. "Our site-only Artisan (series) wines, sold exclusively to our tasting room visitors and wine club members, are also sealed exclusively in natural cork. Part of our brand message is that Sonoma is a magical place, and that our wines showcase all that Sonoma is capable of. Natural cork is a very good fit in helping us package and deliver that message." A fifth-generation native of Sonoma County, Silva's grandparents and great-grandparents were dairy farmers there. "I grew up learning that caring for the land and natural resources are important values," he said. "Cork is biodegradable and recyclable," he said. "Our use of natural cork is consistent with our certified-sustainable vineyard and wine- making practices. If a natural, earth-friendly product is equal or superior to a synthetic prod- uct, St. Francis will always choose the natural product." Silva cited three factors that prompted St. Francis' return to natural cork: • EFFICACY: Does the closure protect the integrity of the wine? St. Francis ceased using natural cork in 1993, but quality control has evolved in the past two decades, Silva acknowledged. "Natural cork is significantly more reliable than it was. No closure is perfect, but we are empirically convinced natural cork is now the superior choice." • EASE OF EXTRACTION: "We are satisfied that natural cork can be removed from a wine bottle with relative ease." • APPEARANCE: "Well-made natural cork does not look plastic or cheap. It looks timeless and refined. This is a big deal to us, and we are offering the customer both a product and an entire experience. Every aspect must be effortless and enjoyable." St. Francis sources corks from Amorim and Portocork, both based in Napa, and Sonoma's Ganau America Inc. Maverick Enterprises Inc. of Ukiah, Calif., provides the winery with its Almost Tin product (ATP) capsules (see box on page 38). "We feel this new ATP material is better than polylam in terms of spinning and quality," Silva told Wines & Vines. All corks are branded prior to bottling, and capsules are embossed with the winery's logo. When Shannon Ridge, now producing some 75,000 cases annually in Lake County, Calif., launched nationally eight years ago, "The cork industry was struggling with TCA (cork taint). With no viable solutions in sight, we felt that as a new brand we had to protect the integrity of our product," chief operations officer Chris Baker recalled. "We put all of our varietals under screwcap. We learned a lot from that process that eventu- ally led us back to cork," he said. "Several fac- tors influenced our decision. Quality was the primary goal. As our brand was taking off, we were struggling to meet demand, which meant very little to no bottle aging, sometimes with only a day or two between bottling and shipping." Shannon Ridge changed its package "due to bottle aging, sustainability and consumer perceptions," Baker said. "Today's younger consumers do not hold the traditions of older generations, but we believe they will one day as they grow and understand more about the industry. There are many misconceptions and half-truths in the industry as closure manufac- turers all position themselves favorably toward their particular material. The synthetic manu- facturers have a story, the screwcap companies have their unique selling propositions, and everybody is right in their own way." As with St. Francis, sustainability was key to Shannon Ridge's decision. "We have no ob- jections to other closures. For us, the change to cork met our story of sustainability. We ad- dress the cork tree with consumers in an edu- cational way. Many folks believed the trees were cut down as opposed to a responsible, sustainable harvest," Baker said. Screwcap suppliers face an issue based on open-pit mining of bauxite for the aluminum closures, he noted. "The process of transform- ing aluminum from raw bauxite is energy in- tensive. The mining process is not pretty or healthy to the environment. Most consumers never consider this in their purchase of con- sumer goods," Baker said. Shannon Ridge sources its cork from Amorim and Portocork. Prices range from $1.30 to $1.50 per case for volume brands and $2.30 to $4.70 per case for premium/luxury brands. The winery prefers twin-top closures for "volume" items. "This gives us the best quality and value. We rarely find cork taint with these," Baker said. "Our higher priced wines all receive grade-A corks." For direct and private label brands, Shannon Ridge buys polylam capsules from Enoplastic USA in Fairfield, Calif. Branded products re- ceive tin capsules from Ramondin USA in Napa. All capsules bear the Shannon Ridge brand. Shannon Ridge switched to cork to allow for aging. Customer feedback led Naked Wines to adopt cork. " Cork is biodegradable and recyclable. Our use of natural cork is consis- tent with our certified- sustainable vineyard and winemaking practices." —Christopher Silva, president and CEO, St. Francis Winery & Vineyards