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38 WINES&VINES August 2016 PACKAGING winemaker Jeff Cichocki is a self-confessed screwcap fan, but some of his wines are bot- tled under twin-disk corks. Retailing for an average $12.99-$14.99 per bottle, "Our wines are produced to be consumed soon after re- lease," Cichocki said. Cichocki said the Bonterra winemaking team conducts closures trials "for our own education and to challenge our choices.… Natural cork can have a dulling effect on aromatics, (leaving wines) not as bright as they could be," he explained. Cichocki's goal is that the consumer gets the wine as it was intended. "About four years ago, we trialed Pinot Noir in corks vs. screwcap. We liked the cork earlier (in the aging curve) and the screwcap later." Because Bonterra produces "popular priced" wines destined for relatively early consump- tion, screwcaps both eliminate the possibility of cork taint and preserve freshness in white wines, he noted. Cichocki said his team has encountered "only positive reactions to screwcaps; they've even received some requests for red wines in that closure. There's been no pushback." The winemaker contends that even red wines "can age some" under the Stelvin closure Bonterra employs. Bonterra does use top-quality Amorim natural corks for its higher end, single-vine- yard, Biodynamic range of wine. Maverick capsules top off all of the bottles under cork, and the Bonterra logo appears on both cap- sules and screwcaps. Give the market what it wants Mahoney Vineyards is a 150,000-case brand of Carneros Wine Co. in Napa, Calif., selling its wine at an average price of $28 per bottle. "We have a few different brands," said wine- maker Ken Foster. "The vast majority of what we use for closures is the Nomacorc Select." For those who've had doubts—or difficulty pulling a synthetic cork—Foster suggested a helpful hint: "Removing the Nomas is easy. Just don't put the corkscrew all the way in, the way you would with a natural cork. We've been using Nomacorc since the first vintage I bottled here in 2001." Synthetics are not for everyone, Foster acknowledged. "Some wines want oxygen, but our wines spend more time in barrel and don't need significant oxygen when they are bottled," he said. "Synthetics are a good choice for wines built to be consumed within four to five years." But Foster is not married to a single clo- sure. Mahoney's 13 single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, for instance, are sealed with natural cork. "Wine shouldn't be put at risk for mar- keting reasons. Natural cork offers a better chance for a good bottle after five years," Foster said. In May, Mahoney did its first bottling ever using screwcaps. The chosen wine: 450 cases of 2015 Vermentino, a white wine best known DIFFERENT 'CORKS' FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS W hy do wineries use different closures for different wines and different markets? According to Mihailo Panovich, vice president of sales for packaging mega-supplier G3 Enterprises of Modesto, Calif., "We are seeing more large wineries using multiple closures, but the move for small wineries has evolved very slowly. Some wineries are using a combination of corks and twist caps, but usage is in favor of corks." Some wineries use all stoppers but use multiple types: natural, agglomerate and plastic, he added. Choices are influenced by prices of wine and closures and where the wine is sold: direct to consumer, retail or on premise, he said. "Most wineries pay attention to the cost of the closure. We see cost becoming more of an issue in wines that retail for less than $25. Many wineries that offer wines retailing for above $25 tend not to be as cost conscious. This becomes more of an image play. "In addition, marketing and winemaking (staff) have a lot to say about the closure decision, and each have their own thoughts on what is needed to ensure the end consumer gets what they are looking for. "Finally, many wineries are starting to choose based on where the wine is sold. A number of on-premise establishments prefer certain types of closures based on by-the-glass pours or wine list selections. Much of that depends on the type of on-premise account we are talking about." "The country the wine is being sold in can also influence the clo- sure decision process. For example, a brand sold in the U.S. may be closed by a cork based on consumer preference, but that same brand could be closed in a 30x60 twist-cap closure for export mar- kets, because some of those markets prefer twist-cap closures," Panovich said. He added, "We believe that wineries have and always will contin- ue to experiment with different types of closures. We are seeing more wineries concerned with TCA (cork taint) and OTR (oxygen transmission rates), and we have seen responses to that concern with new technical cork offerings like DIAM corks that guaran- tee no TCA and offer different levels of controlled OTR. While TCA has become more of the focal point for closures, consistent closure performance in every bottle is also very important. This is an area of advantage for closures such as technical corks and screwcaps." Panovich observed that public perception and the technology be- hind "alternative" closures have improved significantly in the past decade. "We have seen new liner offerings for screwcaps that offer different controlled OTR, allowing winemakers to choose the right option for their wine to develop over time. Based on this, I do see wineries possibly moving to multiple closure types, but we believe the future lies with corks and 30x60 screwcaps." Cline has its own bottling line, allowing the winery to accommodate a variety of different closures.