ALL CORK AND PLENTY OF ACTION

With millions of rands invested in wine, it is no wonder restaurateurs are concerned that contaminated wine affects the bottomline.

The Portuguese Cork Association (Associacao Portuguesa de Cortica - Apcor) has rekindled a debate that might have started hundreds of years ago after the natural cork closure still used today was devised by monks in the 1600s.

The organization's intentions are, however, to preserve this tradition as well as a R13,5-billion cork industry threatened by a growing preference by producers to use the more efficient screwcap and plastic stopper. The trend is fuelled by fears that cork contributes towards wine taint.

Apcor has launched a $6-million 12-month global marketing campaign "to address negative perceptions sometimes associated with the use of natural cork" and this includes the establishment of Cork Information offices in key regions including Australia, South Africa, Italy and France.

The most popular closures for bottles are natural cork, the synthetic or plastic stopper and the screwtop. Cork is preferred by consumers and, hence, producers, when it comes to fine wines.

Apcor quotes research, done in January 2002 among wine drinkers in Australia, UK and USA, which it commissioned, showing that 75% expressed a preference for natural cork, with just 9% for plastic stoppers. A total 69% said that real cork is a sign of quality.

Plastic stoppers offer substantially decreased contamination risk, but can leak as they lose elasticity over a long period. The screwtop offers the least risk of contamination, but has a poor image amongst fine wine drinkers because of its large-scale use on cheaper, bulk wines.

Apcor is eager to persuade consumers and producers that cork alone is not always to blame for wine taint and that poor quality and hygiene control in bottle manufacturing and the bottling process can increase the chances of contamination.

The losses to the restaurant industry caused through bottles of wine that are returned because of wine taint are hard to determine. At 96 Winery Road near Stellenbosch, wine returned is a daily occurrence. Owner and winemaker Ken Forrester estimates between 2-3% of wine sold at his venue is returned.

"The cork industry would serve its purpose better if it worked out a way of guaranteeing a cork free of TCA, rather than pouring money into a fancy marketing campaign," he declares.

While he admits that cork holds a romance that no other closure does, he has experienced the benefits of synthetic cork. "I bottle 180 000 litres of Petit Chenin a year, 70% of which is exported to the UK, and there has been 0% taint". As a result, his sauvignon blanc will be going into a bottle closed with a synthetic cork this year.

"Fortunately, many reputable wine producers are willing to take back tainted bottles," says Hugh van Zahn, co-owner of Beluga restaurant - an establishment in Cape Town that prides itself on its wine offering.

Although the restaurant finds around 3% of its wine contaminated, it is replaced unreservedly when a customer identifies a dud bottle. "The problems arise, however, in small restaurants that do not care to know more about the wine they sell," says Van Zahn of conflicts that arise between restaurateurs and patrons over wine. "Often these venues buy wine from poor quality producers that use poor quality cork."

At a glance
      Research conducted by the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) on wine closures can be
          viewed at www.asvo.com.au/front_ajgwr.html
      Apcor website: www.corkmasters.com
      South African Cork Information tel: 011 728 1363.

Short and sweet
Wine or "cork" taint is caused by the chemical trichloroanisole (TCA), which results from an interaction of mould, chlorine and phenols (organic compounds found in all plants). TCA can develop in the cork forests or at almost any point during cork production.

While most often linked to flawed corks, TCA can also originate in bottles, cardboard cases or wooden palettes, and it can develop on corks while they are stored in the winery.

It is estimated that anything up to 10% of all wine made is affected, but establishing a reliable figure is difficult because corkiness varies in intensity. In the most extreme cases it renders a wine undrinkable; in others it flattens aromas and flavours.

Accepted practice in restaurants when a patron identifies a bottle as tainted, is that it be replaced. Interestingly, research conducted by Apcor revealed that a large number of bottles were sent back not necessarily because they were tainted, but because the taster wanted impress a group with his apparent knowledge of wine.

Talk about cork
Natural cork has a history that stretches between 1670, when French abbot Dom Peringnon discovered it worked better than wooden bungs wrapped in hemp, to today as a product that not only plugs bottled wine, but is also used as a protective device on spacecraft among other things.

Cork harvesting consists of stripping the outer bark of cork oaks, which takes place between May and August. It is harvested in steady cycles that promote growth over its lifespan of 150-200 years with each oak providing an average of 16 bark strippings.