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CL OSURE S Obviously, contamination from TCA has been a primary reason for interest in and adoption of alternative closures. De Jesus says that in addition to improving manu- facturing, Amorim continues to improve quality control. The company has 13 gas chromatographs for testing samples, and he says they perform 16,000 tests each month. "We produce 3.5 billion closures, but people expect quality standards to parts per trillion (ppt), like pharmaceuticals." Amorim's labs perform 14,000 gas-chroma- tography analyses every month with more than a dozen gas-chromatography stations. since it's very strong—especially for less-expensive versions such as Prosecco and Cava. "We get an early warning of production since wineries have to order closures, and we see a growing increase in sparkling wine in general." Some value brands prefer natural cork Portocork, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amorim, is one of the industry's larg- est suppliers, too, shipping more than 350 million stoppers annually to 1,200 wineries across North America. President Dustin Mowe says that his business for wine corks grew 17% in rev- enue and 11% in quantity during 2011, implying that prices grew faster than quantity. Mowe adds that the number of wineries using synthetic closures has declined dramatically, but he admits that a few large companies are using more synthetics, and he understands why: "They're decent for wines consumed in less than a year," and he View video in the Wines & Vines Digital Edition. Winery owners discuss how they settled on using a DIAM closure because of the com- pany's production methods to minimize cork taint. notes that basic natural corks cost 60 cents versus 40 cents for the best synthetics. Nevertheless, some producers of low- priced wines think that cork is worth- while. Bronco Winery founder Fred Fran- zia uses a technical cork in his Charles Shaw brand (aka Two Buck Chuck) to lend the wine credibility. Meanwhile, Francis Coppola Winery repackaged its Rosso & Bianco line of wines ($11 per 750ml bottle) to create an "upscale feel" that includes a natural cork finish. Mowe notes that some wineries are converting from synthetics to screw- caps, but he claims that screwcaps haven't taken off the way many antici- pated. "People are comfortable with Sauvignon Blanc or rosé in a screw- cap, but not more serious wines." WINES & VINES AUGUST 2012 33