Natural cork

Friday, 15 January 2010 00:00

The preference for natural cork as a wine closure in the U.S. can be seen in two new studies as well as the success of a cork-sealed New Zealand wine in this market. Leading US trade publication ‘Wine Business Monthly’ highlighted the positive perceptions of natural cork among U.S. wineries in its 2009 Closure Report. The publication says its survey of 229 US wineries, published in the June edition, shows that natural cork remains the highest rated closure in terms of ‘overall perceptions’. The best ‘overall’ rating was achieved by natural cork’s top ranking in several categories including consumer acceptance, performance on the bottling line and product performance. A New Zealand wine recently became the best selling sauvignon blanc in the United States with the use of a natural cork closure seen as a major factor in the wine’s sales success. As reported by Decanter.com, the company had packaged the brand specifically for the US consumer by sealing the wine under cork, a move that meant going against the screw cap trend in New Zealand. Several studies published over the last five years have highlighted US consumers’ preference for natural cork as a wine seal. A recent consumer perceptions study by Nelson Barber, Christopher Taylor and Tim Dodd of the Texas Tech University titled ‘Twisting Tradition: Consumers’ Behavior Toward Alternative Closures’, suggests that 71 percent of US consumers prefer natural cork closures.