What’s New at ENOTOOLS

Read about the world's oldest cork tree here.

http://www.corkfacts.com/contpges/whismain.htm

We sometimes hear vendors selling a refurbished barrel racks as “almost like new and at a much lower cost” than new barrel racks. In the case of a re powder coated product this is really not the case.

Western Square build a virgin steel barrel rack from scratch that is sent through a five stage conveyorized wash and coat system. The first thing done in this system is to remove all potential contaminants present. These contaminants can be oils, soils, metal fines and even some fresh or blush rust.

After cleaning the barrel rack, an iron phosphate coating is applied and cured at a temperature of four hundred degrees. The phosphate coating is critical to endurance and performance since it acts as a sacrificial coating protecting the base metal. Powder coated barrel racks are prettier longer than painted barrel racks. Since a powder coat finish is organic, it will breathe. When a pin hole appears, any moisture will find its way to and through that pin hole. Without the iron phosphate coating under the powder coating, corrosion forms and will creep. This condition is called filiform corrosion. Visible rust on painted barrel racks still happens faster. Simply put this is a form of corrosion that will migrate under the powder coating and ultimately you will have a delamination or lifting of the powder coating, displaying rust.

With a refurbished product the procedure is most commonly to remove the existing powder coat using sand blasting or other blasting methods and re apply powder without the iron phosphate pre treatment system. You are then faced with a product that may look good, but hides the corrosion that will ultimately lead to premature failure. And anyone who has ever sanded away rust and re- painted steel can tell you that rust never goes away.

A re coated product is not the same quality as new and will display signs of corrosion much quicker than new. There is also the question as to how much metal fatigue is being hidden with a new finish. It would seem that replacing a barrel rack with a new one is a better strategy than the false economy of saving a couple of dollars now and perhaps paying much more at a later date.

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

The right hand side of the winemaking country deserves great quality, service, and support from its vendors, too.

Too often, I am told a story by a customer that sickens, no mortifies me when I imagine what the repercussions would be for that vendor if he or she were located in Napa. My suspicion is that a customer service horror- story would travel up route 29 or the Silverado Trail so fast that no reasonable winemaker would ever buy from that person again.

OK, maybe it does happen out there, too. But isn't it logical that the lower density of wineries in a vast area like the eastern 40% of the U.S. makes it easier for a winery equipment, tank, cork, barrel, etc. scheister to keep going? I have heard the detailed descriptions of the challenges in viticulture and enology all over our territory for almost a decade now. It has become very clear that you wine producers in the East work harder for less at the end of the day and face more obstacles.

I look at it like its our duty as suppliers to make doing your job and doing business as painless as possible. I am personally and professionally committed to being better at representing and supporting all of the inputs to commercial wine manufacturing that we offer than the next guy. I hope I deliver on that philosophy from time to time.

"Reputation is not a thing that is earned by telling someone what you are going to do." -Henry Ford

OK, I admit it: I was born in the Finger Lakes and for years thought that Riesling and Labatt's Blue were the only things worth drinking when the occasion called for stuff harder than milk. And my career selling equipment to commercial wineries has been one filled with luck, satisfaction, and hard work. I have been busy in a good way everywhere but Michigan.

Long story short, some 25 years later, I finally got around to some of the Leelanau Peninsula, Old Mission Peninsula, and Southwest Michigan wineries this week. Wow! The scenery, the people, and the wines are worth the trip.

Cool climate be damned! These wines are serious. Great Riesling, Pinot Gris/ Grigio, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.
The wineries we visited are keen to making quality wines and will probably just get better as they go.

I just wanted to say thank you to all you Michigan winemakers who took the time to make Sean Turner and me feel welcome.

See you on the Crushpad!

I wish you all a great harvest as it is officially Fall now and some have said they are almost finished harvesting their grapes and are already making 2011 wines while others have just started.

Take notes on what could be improved in your process. We will have all winter to discuss better ways to use what you already have, or some much- needed replacements.

Are you short a few wine barrels?

When it comes time to bottle your wine, you may want to give us a whack at your corks and bottles. You may be surprised what we can do!

See you on the crushpad!