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August 2015 WINES&VINES 41 PACKAGING transmission rate), ensuring better ageability. Another slight advantage is that the lignin is removed, so the woody extractables are gone. SO 2 retention is superior with DIAM, compared with raw corks," Ramey said. Another technical cork offering on the ho- rizon is not yet in use in North America. Amorim has teamed with O-I (Owens-Illinois), the world's largest glass container purveyor, to introduce Helix, which was shown and distrib- uted at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in January. It's a technical cork designed to be inserted in the bottle and removed with a twist of the wrist: essentially, a cork screwcap. Weighing in from Portugal, Amorim's Car- los de Jesus shared a few details. "Helix is made using all the preventative and curative measures available in Amorim's arsenal. These allow Helix to have the same physical, mechanical and sensorial" qualities as Amor- im's natural corks. The design is patented, the result of four years of R&D (research and development). Between Amorim and Owens- Illinois, it's a cork/bottle system for fast-turn- around wines. It currently seals wines from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria. Brand without pain Some designers advocate using the entire wine package as a marketing tool. That means clo- sures, too. In 2012, Portocork added laser- printing to its offerings. "We use the laser printing for most of our ultra-premium and luxury customers. The main benefit is that every stopper is exactly the same," said Porto- cork president Dustin Mowe. "With ink, you have some shading, or one side prints a little darker than the other, etc. With fire branding, it is a burning of the cork surface (it rolls across a glowing hot plate), and therefore the crispness of the image or words is not there. Laser alleviates all that and gives detail you cannot get in either of the other options," he said. "In addition, with inks you need adequate time between printing and coating of the stop- pers, or you can get smearing. Another major benefit is the laser machine can individualize each stopper. This is most beneficial for anti- counterfeit measures," Mowe said. The laser branding works well with all types of stoppers and is scuff-proof and non- toxic, he added. "It is a significant process to set up a laser-brand image; therefore, we do charge a small fee—in the same neighborhood as what is charged for an ink-printing or fire- branding die." Amorim developed the Helix closure to be used with specially designed bottles from Owens-Illinois. Portocork offers laser printing for its natural cork wine closure products.