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CL OSURE S Having natural cork at both ends means no orientation machine is needed for application. Sabaté, to its credit, responded well. Sabaté looked at ways of removing any contamination from cork, and with the help of the French atomic energy com- mission it came across a process that actually worked. It involved the use of carbon dioxide in a state known as its critical point. At a particular combina- tion of pressure and temperature, the liquid/gas interface disappears, and you then have a substance that can penetrate like a gas and can clean like a liquid. For carbon dioxide, the critical point is not too hard to achieve: It's 31.1°C and 73 bars of pressure—a conveniently low temperature, even if the pressure is on the high side. This technique has been used to remove caffeine from coffee and by the perfume industry to extract fragrances. After trials, the new version of Altec, called Diam, was released commercially in 2005, and after restructuring Sabaté changed its name to Oeneo-Bouchage. The Diam range has expanded and currently consists of Diam versions 2, 3 and 5 (in ascending order of cost and impermeability to oxygen) as well as the Mytik sparkling wine closure. Oeneo has improved the look of the closure by add- ing a grain effect, to make it look more like natural cork, as well as features such as end printing. Diam's great benefit is that it is taint free, according to the com- pany, because of the effectiveness of the production process. However, because of the added cost of the supercritical carbon dioxide treatment, Diam costs a little more than some other technical corks on the market. Following the initial market success of Altec, other cork producers began work on microagglomerates and now most offer them as part of their portfolios. For leading cork manufacturer Amorim, their microagglo, Neutrocork, has been experi- encing rapid growth in sales. "It is now the fastest growing technical stopper," reports Amorim's de Jesus. He says that sales have grown over the past four years at 20% per year, with a current figure of 410 million units. For the microagglo category as a whole, corresponding growth has been 12%. "It's a workhorse in getting wines back to cork from plastic closures," says de Jesus. "It can undercut the synthetic corks by as much as 50%, depending on the market and the quantity." MA Silva's microagglomerate is Pearl, while Cork Supply offers the Vapex microextra. Defeating taint One of the issues facing manufacturers of any natural cork-based closure is the issue of taint. The presence of TCA in cork oak bark is a significant problem, and for natural cork the reported taint rates in the late 1990s and early 2000s were extremely high. Reports from Australia at the time suggested that as many as one in 10 wines were affected by cork-related taint issues. As there was no alternative to natural "Wow, you're exactly the same as I remember you!" "Actually, I've aged quite a bit… on the inside." They say a fine wine only gets better with age – and at Barrels Unlimited we make sure of it. Whether it's making a good wine great or a great wine legendary, our air-dried American oak casks and barrels infuse complexity and character into every batch. Available in 5,10, 15, 20, 30, 59, 70, and 80 gallon sizes. Corporate Office | Jackson, Wyoming 1.800.875.1558 www.barrelsunlimited.com | West Coast Cooperage Fresno, California 34 Wines & Vines AUGUsT 201 1