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30 WINES&VINES August 2017 I n 1999, two major synthetic cork brands were launched using a new extrusion technology that is still the stan- dard in the industry. After 18 years, synthetics have roughly 20% of the wine bottle closure market. Screw- caps, too, are estimated to have as much as 20% market share, while other alternatives such as technical corks that combine fine cork particles, microspheres and glue are growing steadily as well. Alternative packages such as cans, kegs and bag-in-box also are growing. For the wine industry, this much change in 18 only years is considered "disruptive technology." By comparison, other industries innovate just a little more rapidly. In 1999, Dell Computer launched its top-of- the-line Latitude R400GT notebook computer featuring a battery life of two hours, 64 MB RAM, 6.4 GB hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and weighing only 7.4 pounds for $3,098. Today, we can buy a much faster, lighter laptop with a better screen for about $600. In 2017, we know all the wine closures I mentioned are commercially and technically acceptable. We also know that wineries have their preferences and opinions, which are based on their own experiences. I interviewed five wine industry decision makers— winemakers, winery owners and a marketing manager— from coast to coast to learn why they use what they use to seal wine bottles. The five wineries represented make wines in a wide cross-section of styles, price points and locations, and target them to vastly different con- sumer groups. Closure certainty for luxury wines Doug Fletcher is the vice president of winemaking for the Terlato Wine Group, owner of California wineries Rutherford Hill, Chimney Rock and Sanford, which produce an annual average of 120,000 combined cases priced from $28 to $250 per bottle. Terlato markets some lower priced brands as well. Fletcher has 40 years of winemaking expe- rience, starting with the original Martin Ray win- ery in the Santa Cruz mountains. Terlato uses ICON natural corks from Por- tocork for most of the luxury wines, screwcaps from Vinperfect in the Seven Daughters line and Amorim twin-top corks for the Tangley Oaks brand. Fletcher is impressed with Portocork's ICON technol- ogy, which assesses each individual cork for TCA, and that Portocork also guarantees them. "They will buy back any tainted bottles at full retail," he tells Wines & Vines. Fletcher estimates Portocork's process adds 15 cents to the price of each cork, but "for a $50-plus bottle, it's a no brainer." Fletcher says the biggest problem with cork taint is that the consumer is unaware of taint and ends up hating the wine and never buying it again or, put more simply, "Whatever the taint percentage is (times the number of bottles produced), that's how many people you lose every year." To test batches, Terlato's labs indi- vidually soak 100 corks and count the number of tainted soaks. Fletcher says that with ICON, all corks have passed. He is moving toward using the ICON technology on all Chimney Rock wines. For less expensive wines, Terlato uses less expensive closures, but technical quality is still paramount. "The idea that you can tolerate cheap closures in cheaper wines is a false economy," Fletcher says. He believes that Amorim takes care in making disks for their twin-tops and that their use of steam extraction works well. "We see a very low rate of TCA with their twin-tops," he says. Fletcher has some concerns about using any cork closure where the end touch- ing the wine is not a disk, such as agglomerates and micro- agglomerates, as he understands that a urethane glue is used to bind the bits of cork. For screwcaps, Fletcher is seeking a known and con- trolled level of oxygen permeation. He says, "Vinperfect has really figured out the liner," and offers caps with distinct rates of oxygen ingress. Fletcher compared Vin- perfect oxygen ingress consistency to that of a tin liner, but instead of letting in zero oxygen, it lets in a controlled level. Fletcher has observed that the oxygen permeability of a Saranex liner will vary because of spring tension in the capper heads. While Terlato uses natural cork on the vast majority of their wines, Fletcher closed our interview by stating, "Most winemakers would say, 'I want to use a screwcap.'" Closures may change your winemaking Rick Masser is co-owner and winemaker for Benigna's Creek Vineyard and Winery in Klingerstown, Pa. Masser was a farmer before starting to grow grapes and make n ANDY STARR Winemaking How Wineries Choose Their Closures