Vinters turn to new wine corks for better wine quality.

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Artificial wine corks are increasingly common as a method for plugging wine bottles from the distillery, but some traditionalists refuse to change this time-honored approach for sealing their precious products with cork stoppers.

If the cork is easily removed and the contents of the bottle are fresh, most consumers never think twice about the cork itself, but if the wine has turned to vinegar, then it will be a different story. A poor wine cork easily takes all the pleasure away from what should have been a memorable wine experience. What if your unique vintage wine bottle turns out to have become oxidized and spoiled? That experience will of course be remembered, but for all the wrong reasons.

Natural corks are made from the bark of the oak tree. The most popular oak bark comes from Portugal and the Mediterranean region. Since cork is a natural fiber it can become infected with fungus which causes cork mold. When this happens, the valuable wine is at a serious risk of becoming undrinkable. it is almost impossible to tell from outside if a corked wine bottle has a bad cork.

Cork mold is a serious problem for vinters and distilleries use various methods to combat wine cork bacteria and fungus. A ecological method is to boil the oak bark before carving or pressing into a cork. While this kills the microorganisms responsible that may destroy your wine pleasure, it also degrades the quality of the cork. Some vintners are using even more advanced methods including chemical compounds. This is obviously not a good procedure, for nature, for our wine quality, or for the consumer health.

Synthetic corks are formed from plastic compounds and have been found to reduce the risk of wine contamination. Many vintners believe that they convey a slight chemical flavor to the wine and also have a disadvantage of being difficult to remove from the bottle.

Screw on caps which are made from different metals are cheap and easy to implement at the distillery and will seal the wine more effectively and more long lasting than a traditional cork. it is too bad that vinters are reluctant to use screw on caps because it is believed that customers associate this practice with cheap products. We believe the market is ready for quality wines with screw-on caps and hope that more distilleries will implement this technique.

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