How Millennials (Almost) Killed the Wine Cork

Feb 25, 2016

(TheAtlantic) - A new generation of wine drinkers came of age with screw caps and plastic bottle stoppers, but cork producers are mounting a campaign to win their loyalty: An Object Lesson.

No one is completely sure who first came up with the idea for cork wine stoppers, though legend holds that it was the 17th-century monk Dom Pérignon. Perhaps he does deserve the credit; perhaps some other cellar master was the first to abandon convention and seal his glass wine bottles with cork stoppers over wooden plugs. Regardless of who created the wine cork, the invention would go on to become wildly successful: For the past 400 years, cork has been the preferred material for wine closures.

The idea caught on because it was a good one—cork resists moisture and rotting, it helps wine age, and it provides an effective leak-proof seal. At the beginning of the 21st century, though, cork experienced a fall from grace, as the issue of “cork taint”—a phenomenon associated with spoiled wine—became more prevalent. The primary cause of cork taint is the presence of the chemical compound 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). But TCA isn’t limited to cork; it’s also found naturally in wood, water, soil, fruit and vegetables. This means that other factors, including the storage of wine in wooden barrels, can contribute to wine spoilage. But because cork and wine have long been so inseparable, and because cork is a known source for TCA, the phenomenon of wine spoilage was named for the ubiquitous cork stopper. It was a nightmare for the cork industry.  

How common was it? In 2005, Wine Spectator magazinetested 2,800 bottles of wine for TCA. Seven percent of the bottles were contaminated. For consumers, it seemed the chances of buying spoiled wine were relatively low. But for a winemaker, whose name and reputation are on the line with every sip, a single bad bottle could damage the brand’s reputation and undermine the entire business.

As a result, many vintners began abandoning cork in favor of alternative closures, like aluminum screw caps and plastic plugs, which also had the added benefit of lower cost. Importing cork from the Mediterranean can be expensive, especially for wineries in New Zealand and Australia; by 2010, most wineries in those countries had switched to screw-cap closures, which were also gaining prominence across the world.

Though it has recaptured some market share in recent years, the cork industry is now fighting against the newly discovered appeal of plastic and aluminum. A wine-shop manager told me screw caps have “just about taken over the market,” especially with lower-priced wines. Screw caps are just easier to use. “And people like that,” he said. “Even wine drinkers.” Aluminum screw caps once sealed primarily cheap malt liquors and quart bottles of beer; today they cap 20 percent of the world’s table wines. Plastic stoppers have also surged in popularity, now accounting for 10 percent of the wine-closure market.  By some estimates, cork has lost nearly 40 percent of the wine-closure market since the late 1980s, a loss most apparent in low-priced ($10 and under) wines.

Much of cork’s current struggle can be attributed to one group in particular: Millennial wine drinkers, a generation that has less of an allegiance to traditional cork closures. A 2012 report by the Wine Market Council, a nonprofit association of grape growers, wine producers, importers, and other affiliated businesses, revealed that 65 percent of older Millennials (over the age of 25) drink wine daily or several times a week; half of younger Millennials (21-25) fell into the same category. The report also revealed that roughly two-thirds of Millennials “frequently or occasionally” purchase unfamiliar brands of wine, and 60 percent admitted to being swayed by “fun and contemporary-looking” labels. The type of bottle closure, by contrast, isn’t an important factor in purchasing decisions—and when it is, the lack of need for a corkscrew may well be an enticement.



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Comments:

 

Dan
Feb 26, 2016

Thank the "natural cork" industry for the misinformation in the posted article. Most of the cork's current struggle is not due to "Millennial Wine Drinkers", it's attributed to the wine industry having many superior closures to chose from. Some Facts about Closures - 1. Wine does not need oxygen leaking through the closure to age after it's been bottled! 2. The reductive potential is a winemaking issue that should be handled before bottling. Good winemakers don't need to use faulty closures to mitigate their poor quality control. 3. Currently the best closure is a screw cap with tin liner. PERIOD 4. DIAM manufactured cork closures are purified with super critical CO2 and are 100% taint free and do not break down or leak oxygen. Oxidation being a much bigger problem with "natural cork" than TCA. This should be the only acceptable cork closure for any fine wine. 5. Only the cheapest of wines should one ever consider using a "natural cork" 6. At least 80% of all wine produced should be packaged in "Bag in Box" as it has no long term aging potential, will be consumed within a year, and is more environmentally friendly with smaller carbon footprint.

 
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