Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/708909
August 2016 WINES&VINES 31 WINEMAKING chase behavior? In a restaurant, the wine server may act as gatekeeper. He or she may be a traditionalist deathly afraid of offending the diner (and getting a smaller tip) by serving a screwcapped or synthetic cork-sealed wine. Or the server may be a hip adventurer who takes Anything But Chardonnay to its logical ex- treme—recommending kombucha-infused Grüner Veltliner hand-picked under a waxing (not waning) moon by trained howler monkeys or something like that—so the closure type may not be important. For a direct-to-consumer purchase, you have the ability to insert an in- formation sheet as to why the closure was chosen. I advise doing this, as your wine club members already like you and trust your judge- ment. Also, they have probably had experience with all closure types. Price positioning For everyday goods, functionality rules. Pack- aging primarily needs to just keep the contents in their original condition until use. We don't see car repair bloggers lamenting the use of motor oil now being sold in easy-open plastic bottles instead of the "decades-old tradition" of motor oil in cans, which were messy to open and pour without spilling. For luxury goods such as wine priced above $40 per bottle, the product increasingly becomes a gift or status item meant to impress someone. The consumer's decision to purchase is therefore more emotional (Will it impress?), requiring you to create a luxurious rather than simply functional package. If perfume makers were solely focused on packaging functionality, then they'd protect their $315-per-ounce products by putting them in unbreakable, bullet-proof bottles. But they know that extravagant products must be presented as being "worth it," so instead they put them in deli- cate, beautiful crystal vessels that break easily. It's why you use cosmetically beautiful, long straight natural corks to go with other "luxury markers" like overweight bottles, tin capsules or hand- dipped wax, fancy label paper, wooden boxes, etc. How are similar wines sealed? Currently nearly all Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand and a large number of those from the United States are sealed with screw- caps. Sauvignon Blanc devotees now expect to see it sealed under screwcap—whether on- premise or off-premise—so one sealed other- wise may be perceived as outdated. How does the closure fit with my sustainability values? The wine industry has an excellent environ- mental record as it relates to vineyard and winemaking practices. We have reduced our use of pesticides, water and energy, yet I find the sustainability argument for wine packaging difficult to "sustain" (pun apology No. 2). Claims about the relative amount of energy used to make screwcap, synthetic cork or natu- ral cork are insignificant when compared with the enormous amount of energy necessary to heat 400 grams of silica to 1,600° F to make a wine bottle. I have seen an estimate that it takes the equivalent energy of burning 1 gallon of gasoline to make one case of empty wine bottles—and even more energy is used to make those heavyweight bottles used for luxury wines. As for recyclability, all closure types are recyclable, but the resources saved in doing so are a teaspoon in the ocean when compared to the energy resources consumed in "recy- cling" broken glass, which requires that pesky 1,600° F remelting process. Bottles are rarely washed and refilled, which actually would rate high on the sustainability scale. How might ageability matter? I frequently hear the statement that "ageabil- ity is important," yet there are estimates that 90% or more of all bottles are consumed within 12 months of the bottling date. All closure types provide adequate product pro- tection for longer than that. Be honest with yourself. Will the wine actu- ally be cellared by a significant percentage of purchasers? Would you rather your club mem- bers age your wine or consume it now and reorder more? Do the restaurants that carry your wines cellar them before sale? If it will be aged, for how long? And will it benefit most from: a) a consistent and known volume of oxygen passing through the closure, b) an amount that varies from closure to closure, or c) no oxygen? In summary, as alternative and traditional wine closures are being used successfully, your focus should be on your consumers' prefer- ences, if they have them at all. Andy Starr, founder of StarrGreen (starr green.com), is an entrepreneur, marketing manager and winemaker who provides strategy, management and business development consulting services. A resident of Napa Valley, Calif., he holds a bachelor's degree in fermenta- tion science from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from UCLA. While enological aspects like oxygen transmission rates, TCA detection thresholds, cap liner materials, etc., are important, they are only one part of closure choice criteria.