Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/543749
WINEMAKER INTERVIEW 44 WINES&VINES August 2015 Q You had some early experiences with synthetic corks that were less than successful. Please de- scribe what happened. Doug Fletcher: The first synthetic cork we experimented with was made of silicone. (It) seemed like a good idea; we used silicone bungs in the barrels. I don't think it ever got off the ground because no one could make it work in the corker. The silicone cork would bounce when it dropped into the corker jaws. The first commercial bottling we tried was an early ver- sion of Supreme Corq. We tried them when I couldn't find a cork lot that had an acceptable level of TCA. This was back in the late '90s. I was tired of finding corked bottles in our own tasting room. What other business would toler- ate 5% bad product? So we tried Supreme Corqs on a bottling of Fumé Blanc. It worked fine to start with, but after about 18 months you could start to see a difference in the wine, and by two years the wine had noticeably aged. We have avoided synthetic corks since then. Q Which closures are you currently using? Fletcher: We still use mostly natural cork. We try to do a good quality-control job, and I think we do see lower TCA rates than in years past. That said, we still find corked bottles in the tasting room. But we use only cork lots that have been tested and have a low haloanisole panel number associated with them. We also use twin tops from Portocork (which is part of the Amorim Group) on some products, such as Tangley Oaks. I visited Amorim a few years ago and was impressed with all the work they are doing to get rid of TCA. The discs and agglomerate they use are processed to remove as much TCA as possible, and I think you can see the results. We are currently avoiding technical or agglom- erated corks. I'm worried about the binder glue coming in contact with the wine. We are currently avoiding DIAM corks for that same reason. Also, DIAM corks contain a plastic, which is a concern to me. We are using ROTE (roll-on tamper-evident screwcaps) on an increasing number of wines. September Hills, Seven Daughters and Grace Lane would be examples. We have D oug Fletcher began his winemaking career in the mid-1970s at Martin Ray in California's Santa Cruz Mountains, but for the past three decades the Stags Leap District of the Napa Valley has been his winemaking home. After helping start Stelt- zner Vineyards in Napa, Calif., he was hired in 1987 as winemaker at Chimney Rock Winery. The Terlato family became partners in Chimney Rock in 2001 (they now own it), and Fletcher was named vice president of winemaking for the Terlato Wine Group in 2006. In that position, he oversees winemaking at Terlato's California ventures including Chimney Rock, Rutherford Hill and Terlato Family Vineyards in Napa Valley and San- ford in Santa Barbara, Calif., and for labels such as Seven Daughters and Tangley Oaks. Fletcher is also a consultant to Terlato's joint venture with Michel Chapoutier in Aus- tralia. He's based at Chimney Rock. Fletcher, who graduated from the University of Oregon in 1973 with a degree in biology, has served on the board of directors and as president of the Stags Leap District Winegrowers Association and held similar positions with the Napa Valley Wine Technical Group. A CONVERSATION WITH Doug Fletcher Vice president of winemaking at Terlato Wine Group discusses closures By Laurie Daniel Doug Fletcher "I think you'll see more screwcaps on expensive wines as the consumer becomes more comfort- able with the concept."