Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/853816
August 2017 WINES&VINES 33 WINEMAKING Consumers are knowledgeable Doug Allan is the brand manager for Quivira Vineyards and La Follette wines, producing a combined 25,000 cases in Sonoma County, Calif., and owned by Wine Creek LLC, which also owns Torbreck Vintners in Australia's Barossa Valley. Allan has 11 years of wine mar- keting experience. The wineries use UNIQ technical corks from Ganau and Stelvin screwcaps in wines priced less than $30. All wines priced above $30 are sealed with natural cork. Allan says what matters most in marketing wine is wine quality, so the winemaker's view of the closure's effect on wine quality drives the decision. His view is: "A better product makes it easier to sell." Considerations such as cost and market perception are secondary to quality. Quivira has been using Stelvin screwcaps on its Sauvignon Blanc since 2011, and the $24 Zinfandel will move to Stelvin with the 2016 vintage. Allan says American premium wine drinkers buying below the $35 price point know about closures. "This consumer set is really knowledgeable. They have a better under- standing of wine in gen- eral and know about screwcap benefits. Now you can go to $30 retail with a screwcap. It's taken 25 years for screwcap to get that respect in the U.S. market." Allan sees the closure decision a s v a r i e t a l - driven to some degree. Within t h e $ 1 0 - $ 1 5 segment, con- s u m e r s a r e m o r e r e a d i l y a c c e p t i n g o f s c r e w c a p p e d S a u v i g n o n B l a n c , C h a r - d o n n a y, Z i n - fandel, Syrah and Moscato, b u t t h e y a r e less likely to a c c e p t i t i n P i n o t N o i r, Cabernet and C a b e r n e t - based blends. He says screwcaps and technical corks are creating more consistent wine closures than in the past, leading to an overall improved product for winemakers and consumers. He recently tasted a trial using screwcaps with different oxygen transmission rates and found real differences. Forget the rules We have the perspective of wineries from Napa to Pennsylvania to Florida to San Diego and finally Sonoma. Their diversity of wine styles, price points and target con- sumers gives rise to a wide range of winery- specific closure performance criteria. The take-away for other wineries is to avoid the cliché: That's the way (or not the way) we do it in the wine industry. Instead, always do what's best for your wines and your con- sumers. Andy Starr, founder of management consulting firm StarrGreen (starrgreen.com) was the founder and presi- dent of Neocork, a pioneering synthetic cork venture, but has had no financial or other interest in any closure company for many years. © 2016 StaVin Inc. StaVın Inc, P.O.Box 1693, Sausalito,CA 94966 (415) 331-7849 f (415) 331-0516 stavin.com ® Eco-Friendly. Sustainable. Bio-Dynamic. Zero Impact. Every year, the list seems to grow longer of impressive, earth-saving adjectives that dress the most prudent of today's marketing strategies. And just how Green is StaVin? We recently installed a couple of high tech smoke filtration scrubbers atop our oak toasting facility, which was not required by law. And it did not come cheap. More importantly, our products are 80% less wasteful of resources than traditional barrel-aging methods. We save winemakers money and offer them more control over flavors. While keeping forests and wells fuller. Quivira uses screwcaps to seal its Sauvignon Blanc and soon will be closing Zinfandel under screwcap.