Synthetic wine corks: a trend towards the future
The lawsuit was filed last month in Napa Superior Court. Sabate is negotiating with Van Duzer and several California wineries, but according to an article in the Wine spectator, owner Carl Thoma said the pace of the talks was simply too slow.
Van Duzer is now using Supreme Corq's synthetic stoppers for its white wines, and a high-grade natural cork for its Pinot Noirs.
Another newcomer to synthetic corks is Oregon's Chehalem Vineyards. Owner Harry Peterson-Nedry said he is using Supreme Corq stoppers in his Willamette Valley Pinot Gris and reserved Pinot Gris and some of his Chardonnay.
His experience so far is good and he continues to perform trials and tests with the artificial corks to see how well wines age before he uses the stoppers in his Pinot Noirs.
"We have a terrible situation with TCA right now and it doesn't show signs of improving," Peterson-Nedry said. "So far, I've been totally satisfied with the synthetic cork. The only question I have is age-ability. That will take time to test. With enough data, we will continue to march down the road."
Until questions are answered about aging red wines with synthetic corks, Peterson-Nedry said he will "stay with the evil he already knows," until he and other winemakers have enough information about the long-term affects of artificial corks.
At Columbia Winery in Washington State, Bruce Watson, quality control manager, said synthetic corks are the future of the industry. Columbia uses some Supreme Corq stoppers in its white wines.
"Everybody is waiting to see what the long-term tests show for synthetic stoppers," Watson said. "Right now, we're counting on about two years. But we're going to be cautious before we make changes in closing our red wines.
"I believe the industry, as a whole, will go towards synthetic corks. Bark cork right now is a quality control nightmare."
Someone Has to Pay for Corked Wines
Supreme Corq's Anderson said the loss from bark cork hits at many levels. Someone, be it the producer, distributor, restaurateur or consumer has to absorb the replacement cost of corked wine. In addition, bark cork dries out with age, even when bottles are stored horizontally to keep the corks moist. Dried corks shrink, causing some leakage and allowing enough oxygen to potentially spoil the wine.
Supreme Corq's stoppers are made from a high-grade thermoplastic elastomer, used in biomedical procedures such as heart valves, syringes and medical tubing. Anderson said the stoppers seal immediately and won't crumble or
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