European wine consumers still prefer cork
La Redazione - April 20, 2004

A new process to prevent TCA tainting in wine may be the solution that keep consumers happy.

Cork PullerMany alternatives are currently being tried by the wine industry to improve upon the sometimes problematic method of corking. The easiest way at first seemed to be switching to other sealing materials thereby eliminating the usage of actual cork. This though, has proven to be harder to sell to consumers, especially in European traditional wine producing countries, such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, as well as Ireland. In fact, according to a survey conducted in Europe by California wine producers, Ernest and Julio Gallo, screw capped bottles of its Turning Leaf label were only truly accepted by British consumers. French, Italian, Spanish and Irish consumers strongly prefer natural corks.

This is partly due to the traditional belief that a better wine deserves cork, and partly because uncorking the bottle is part of the overall wine drinking experience. To some, the distinctive pop sound of the cork pulled from the bottle, is part of the ritual and enjoyment of wine drinking. Other sealing alternatives have been introduced in recent years, but, with the exception of England, the European reception has been less than warm.

An ever-larger number of wine producers however, is open to the use of alternative closing methods, as the undesirable phenomenon known as 'corking' is due to a chemical reactions with natural corks. It is estimated that up to 10 per cent of wine bottles on the market are affected by this problem caused TCA (chemical trichloroanisole), which sometimes occurs in the bark of cork trees.

Recently Sabate, the second largest cork producer in the world, has developed a new technique to remove TCA particles from the bark of cork trees. The so-called Diamond process treats the bark with 'supercritical' carbon dioxide. If this method works, we wine drinkers are going to have it both ways. We can stick to our beloved cork and the pleasure of its sound, while drastically reducing the risk of uncorking 'corked' bottles.


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