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32 WINES&VINES August 2017 WINEMAKING been a godsend." The winemaker says he would not consider wholesaling strawberry wine to 650 Pennsylvania state outlets with- out a screwcap. "Screwcaps haven't been an easy thing to figure out, but it definitely changed the way we make wine," Masser says. "It's been some- thing of a pleasure to learn it. I'm excited about it. It has a lot of potential for the future." An urban winery perspective Adam Carruth is the owner and winemaker at Carruth Cellars, a self-described "San Diego urban winery" whose motto is "bring- ing grapes to the people. You can thank us later." Carruth has grapes delivered in tem- perature-controlled trucks from the Northern and Central California AVAs of Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley, Paso Robles and the Santa Lucia Highlands. The system works, as the winery wins many awards, including a Best in Class at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for an Alexan- der Valley Cabernet. The winery started in 2006 and currently produces 7,500 cases, all of which is sold direct to consumer. Carruth believes his consumers are indiffer- ent to closure types. He uses screwcaps on his Sauvignon Blanc as it is made in a New Zealand style, and for all other wines he uses natural cork sourced from Portocork. When it comes to internal taint-testing, he says he doesn't do any- thing special. He trusts his vendor and has rarely experienced a corked bottle. Reliability for sweet wines Since 1990, George Cowie has been wine- maker for Chautauqua Vineyards & Winery in Defuniak Springs, in the Florida Pan- handle. Chautauqua makes 10,000-11,000 cases of mostly sweet Muscadine wines from local grapes and prices them from $8 to $25 per bottle. All sales are regional or direct to consumer. Cowie said that unlike Carruth, his consumer demographic is not "the mil- lennial crowd." Chautauqua tracks bottling lots by having serial numbers printed on the labels, a sophis- ticated quality-assurance process not often seen in small wineries. The practice allows him to isolate and identify problems with materials and bottling equipment. The winery moved to synthetic corks many years ago and now uses the Nomacorc Green 500 series for all its wines. "It's a good looking closure with good functional proper- ties," Cowie says, noting that the improved oxygen permeability work works well with Chautauqua's sweeter, fruitier wine style. Cowie notes that synthetics are "easier to use. When they're in, they're in. Plus, there is no cork dust." Cowie says he is intrigued by screwcaps, as they would allow for some residual CO 2 fizz. He maintains that synthetics have been a nonissue with consumers. "The only disap- pointment was people can't use them for cork boards." Finally, Cowie offers this advice: "Go cautiously with any changes. Closure reliability is huge and can affect wine quality and cus- tomer loyalty. Never forget that customers are hard to get." LIQUID NITROGEN DOSING regardless of your closure preference Minimize dissolved oxygen Extend shelf life Purge O 2 from empty bottles Purge O 2 from headspace Since 1958 4 Barten Lane, Woburn, MA 01801 T 781-933-3570 F 781-932-9428 sales@vacuumbarrier.com vacuumbarrier.com Cowie, Winery Carruth Cellars incorporates a mix of natural cork and screwcap for its 7,500-case wine portfolio.