Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/867389
WINERY & VINEYARD EQUIPMENT 62 WINES&VINES September 2017 T he closures market is becoming even more com- petitive as suppliers release more products they claim offer consistent performance, are more sustainable and guaranteed free of any contami- nant compounds. The following cork products and a new type of synthetic closure either launched or debuted in the North American market recently. Another major area of closure innovation, automated systems to ensure cork qual- ity, will be the subject of an upcoming Product Focus feature by Wines & Vines. Two of the newest innovations in the cork segment are micro-agglomerated corks produced with granules that have been treated with a steam-based process to remove TCA and other potential contaminants. Cork Supply calls its treatment Vapex and reports an enhanced Vapex process is at the heart of a new facility in Portugal to produce a line of micro-agglomerated corks from the materials left over from its natural cork produc- tion. The company launched the new Vinc closures at this year's Unified Wine & Grape Symposium. The Vinc and Vinc+ have slightly different oxygen-transfer rates, and Cork Supply guarantees each closure to be free of contami- nation. "We opened CSP4 last year to be able to offer taint- free, best-in-class micro-agglomerated corks produced from 100% of our own high-quality raw cork materials," Cork Supply founder Jochen Michalski said. "As Cork Supply integrates rigorous quality controls during harvesting and production of our natural corks, all remaining cork materi- als from that production are of very high quality." In 2015 the founder of Nomacorc partnered with Be- spoke Capital Partners to form a new company, Vinventions, to complete a successful buyout of the closures company. The new venture then acquired the German cork company Ohlinger in 2015. Through the Ohlinger brand, Vinventions launched a micro-agglomerated cork it's calling Sübr. Vin- ventions worked with Cork Supply to develop the product that also is produced with steam-treated granules but is held together by a non-glue binder. The supplier also guar- antees each cork to be TCA-free and a natural, biodegrad- able option because it's not made with glue. Malcom Thompson, Vinventions' chief innovation officer and president of the Americas, said since the company launched its focus has been to become the global wine industry's most "trusted and complete" closure supplier. After acquiring the Ohlinger company, Thompson said the firm did a complete review of the natural cork portfolio line and decided it did not want to continue using glue for the agglomerated products. "We've always had this position on glue that we thought that was a bad thing," he said. "We're always concerned about the migration of glue byproducts." Thompson said the movement of glue could compromise the closure's performance, and if glue compounds get in to contact with the wine, it could cause an undesirable sensory effect. Starting July 1, he said the company stopped accept- ing new business for glue-bonded products and hopes to have those fully transitioned out of the Vinnventions port- folio by mid-2018. "Essentially we're moving out of glue; that's a decision we're making." The Sübr is bound with a plant-based compound that Thompson said is sustainable and biodegradable and has no aromatic compounds. Vinventions sources the cork from Cork Supply and then forms the closures itself using PRODUCT FOCUS New Wine Stoppers More sustainable cork options and more products billed as TCA-free By Andrew Adams