I am approaching this topic from the standpoint of the guy who really appreciates your business in corks (And machines. And barrels.). I assume that my audience are commercial wine producers. I am not posting this to entertain anyone who blogs for a living. This is meant for the eyes of my customers who may be considering a switch to screw caps. You might imagine me extremely brand faithful to Amorim and emotionally, professionally, and intellectually convinced that natural cork based products are absolutely the way to go for wines sold in bottles.
We test our lots and bales of corks for TCA in Napa to ensure that quality has not changed in shipping. Test results from an independent lab are available with samples on every order.
FACTS:
1. 60% of the wine sold in America is still under cork. This number is increasing. (Nielsen)
2. Wines sealed with corks are still gaining market share. (Nielsen)
3. More of the higher priced wines experiencing sales increases in the last 12 months are sealed with corks. (Nielsen)
4. Wineries who switched closures in the last 12 months were more often switching back to corks. (Nielsen)
5. There are still unanswered questions about aging, sulfur, copper, and reduction under a screw cap. Illegal levels of copper may prevent reduction?
Cork has the advantage:
1. Score one for Corks- Market Perception/ Perception of Quality. Especially true for any wine more expensive than $5.00 that is not from Napa. Why add scrutiny to a wine already price- suspect due to state of origin? I know you make great wine. Would a buyer who has never been to the winery know that? Would a screw cap decrease the odds for the benefit of the doubt?
2. The obvious IF>THEN here is, “Can you ever raise your price once the product changes to screw caps?”
3. Cork is a synonym for Sustainability
4. Corks, offer Recyclability
5. Corks= less Environmental Impact in general.
a. Lower carbon footprint (one ton of aluminum equals FOUR tons of carbon)
b. Less energy consumption during manufacturing
c. Less water used during manufacturing
6. The cork tree lives.
7. Price or Cost of natural cork based closures can be as high or low as you would imagine. I can beat the price, purpose, a
Environmental compliance in the country of origin of the aluminum is a step I dare not take in my argument. But we might discover that certain manufacturers are trashing the earth and not careful about what they are selling or how they make it. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2010/10/07/f-red-mud-bauxite-aluminum.html
We test our lots and bales of corks for TCA in Napa to ensure that quality has not changed in shipping. Test results from an independent lab are available with samples on every order.
FACTS:
1. 60% of the wine sold in America is still under cork. This number is increasing. (Nielsen)
2. Wines sealed with corks are still gaining market share. (Nielsen)
3. More of the higher priced wines experiencing sales increases in the last 12 months are sealed with corks. (Nielsen)
4. Wineries who switched closures in the last 12 months were more often switching back to corks. (Nielsen)
5. There are still unanswered questions about aging, sulfur, copper, and reduction under a screw cap. Illegal levels of copper may prevent reduction?
Cork has the advantage:
1. Score one for Corks- Market Perception/ Perception of Quality. Especially true for any wine more expensive than $5.00 that is not from Napa. Why add scrutiny to a wine already price- suspect due to state of origin? I know you make great wine. Would a buyer who has never been to the winery know that? Would a screw cap decrease the odds for the benefit of the doubt?
2. The obvious IF>THEN here is, “Can you ever raise your price once the product changes to screw caps?”
3. Cork is a synonym for Sustainability
4. Corks, offer Recyclability
5. Corks= less Environmental Impact in general.
a. Lower carbon footprint (one ton of aluminum equals FOUR tons of carbon)
b. Less energy consumption during manufacturing
c. Less water used during manufacturing
6. The cork tree lives.
7. Price or Cost of natural cork based closures can be as high or low as you would imagine. I can beat the price, purpose, a
Environmental compliance in the country of origin of the aluminum is a step I dare not take in my argument. But we might discover that certain manufacturers are trashing the earth and not careful about what they are selling or how they make it. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2010/10/07/f-red-mud-bauxite-aluminum.html
