Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/74666
CL OSURE S getting so low they're not as concern- ing as before. MA Silva has added a gas chromatograph to its Santa Rosa office to improve inspections. At Reliable Cork Solutions, president Andrea J. Pape says her company is always looking for ways to help wineries find the best closure solutions for their bottling with natural and technical corks. "We have evaluated industry trends and concerns and have detected a noticeable shift toward improving the value proposi- tion of closures. Winemakers are looking for better quality, value and performance." Pape says that while natural disk top MA Silva uses a closed system of boiling and careful handling so the corks receive less exposure from boiling to manufacturing. The process uses ozone for sterilization. Neil Foster, president of MA Silva, also sees favorable trends for cork as wineries get better performance from cork sup- pliers. "For the past decade, cork lived in the shadow of its legacies of TCA. In early 2000, we introduced a closed system of boiling and careful handling, so the corks receive less exposure from boiling to manufacturing. We're also using ozone for sterilizing in processing. All this led to bet- ter performance, and we've seen the effects in the past eight to 10 years. But it takes a while for the perception to catch up." Foster says he doesn't think the industry can completely eliminate TCA in cork production, but he believes the levels are 21st Annual Wine Industry Financial Symposium The Premiere Financial and Economic Two Day Event in the Wine Industry September 24–25, 2012, Napa Valley Marriott THE WINE INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE SURVEY AND WINE INDUSTRY FINANCIAL SURVEY: Robert Smiley, Professor Emeritus, Director of Wine, Graduate School of Management, U. C. Davis INDUSTRY KEYNOTE SPEAKER Jay Wright, Chief Operating Officer and President, Constellation Wines U.S., Inc. WINNER–TAKE ALL ASPECTS OF THE WINE MARKET Robert H. Frank, Professor of Economics Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University CHANGING CONSUMER TRENDS & THE CHANGING RETAIL MARKET AND HOW IT IMPACTS THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM John Gillespie, President, Wine Market Council, Panel Moderator For a full program, visit our website Registration opens end of July www.winesymposium.com 707/255-9222 34 WINES & VINES AUGUST 2012 Reliable Cork Solutions' Slimcork is an all- natural technical cork with a homogenous appearance and a uniform surface that improves the sealing of the cork by filling the naturally occurring pores and holes with a natural cork resin composite. Reliable Cork Solutions recently intro- duced Slimcork by marrying the natural cork characteristics for protecting wines with a proprietary process and technology to improve the performance, strength and appearance of a natural wine cork. Slim- cork is an all-natural cork product, but with a consistent homogenous appearance and a uniform surface that improves the sealing properties of the cork by mechanically fill- ing the naturally occurring pores and holes with a natural cork resin composite. (or "twin top") closures have been popu- lar in recent years, the price-to-value per- ception has closed with colmated corks. These are natural cork stoppers with their pores (lenticels) sealed. The trend is due to the increased cost of technical corks and limited supply of cork waste needed for the production of technical corks. "With the sluggish economy as it is, even higher end wineries are looking for ways to reduce their production costs."