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CL OSURE S Closures War at a Standstill? ing low prices. Cork suppliers have fought back with improved manufacturing and quality control as well as technical cork stoppers made from cork disks and par- ticles that address both quality and cost. Cork producers seem to have at least fought the competition to a standstill, and they are winning some battles as the overall quality and cost of technical corks improves. A potential new "weapon" under development by one natural cork producer may even make it possible to provide cork-by-cork TCA detection at the factory. I Carlos de Jesus, director of marketing and communications for Amorim, the world's largest supplier of natural cork closures, says that sales of both Amorim and the natural cork industry are growing significantly. "Our sales were up 8.2% in 2010 and 7.9% in 2011, and we're already up 5.2% for the first quarter of 2012." De Jesus says that the United States is a crucial market that prefers cork. It's taken over from the United Kingdom, which has set the example for 10-15 years, and n the past few decades, suppliers of cork bark bottle stoppers have faced the onslaught of synthetic clo- sures and screwcaps that promised to eliminate contamination from trichloroanisole (TCA) while offer- Natural cork cites positive growth as quality control improves By Paul Franson Highlights • Natural cork producers have improved the quality of their products and say that sales are up. • Agglomerated corks and colmated corks using natural cork materials are less expensive alternatives to whole natural corks. • The goal of individual cork testing for TCA is getting closer. 32 WINES & VINES AUGUST 2012 Cork Supply non-destructively tests corks for sensory defects of all types using its dry soak process. The process adds some cost, so it is most suitable for large and expensive bottles. where large wine retailers have encour- aged screwcaps. He says that in the UK, 55%-57% of wine bottles use alternative closures, whereas wine closures in the U.S. are 70% cork. Here, 17%-18% of wines are bottled under screwcaps, and the remainder use synthetics such as plastic. Half of Amorim's production is natural corks, with the rest comprised of stoppers produced from cork products. The fastest growing technical cork has thin disks of solid cork at each end and particles bound with resin in-between. (See "Understand- ing Technical Corks" in the August 2011 issue of Wines & Vines.) Sparkling wines have long been closed with layered cork stoppers, but de Jesus says everyone is looking at that market ALISSA FISCHER