SA workers visit Portugal
Twenty cellar workers from South Africa visited Portugal on a week-long educational tour in September.

An initiative spearheaded by the Stellenbosch Agricultural Society in association with Amorim, the visit was designed to provide the workers with an insight into cork's journey from bark to bottle.

The South African Farm Workers Association identified cellar workers involved in the bottling process who would benefit from such an experience.

Highlights of the tour included visits to cork forests and manufacturing plants and a trip to the world-renowned Burmester Port estate in Portugal's spectacular Douro Valley.

Yolanda Stuurman of Breerivier Bottling with her tickets for Portugal..

Chinese delegation hosted
Amorim hosted a high-level Chinese delegation led by Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on 8 September.

The visit included a tour of the world's largest wine cork-processing facility as well as Amorim's cork flooring plant.

It was part of a three-day official visit to promote bilateral cooperation between Portugal and China, particularly in the areas of economy and trade.

Interest is growing in China as an emerging wine market and also a potential wine producer.

With a centuries-old "passion for eating and drinking" more and more Chinese are switching to wine, according to Ch'ng Poh Tiong, publisher of the Singapore-based Wine Review.

Ethical trade accreditation
Amorim Cork South Africa has achieved accreditation by the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (WIETA).

WIETA - modelled on the British retail sector's Ethical Trade Initiative - was established in 2002 to improve the working conditions of employees in the South African wine industry.

The association enjoys strong support from key British retailers such as Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer and Somerfield.

WIETA chief executive, Nicky Taylor, said the accreditation was of "enormous significance, as Amorim was the first of the key suppliers to the South African wine industry to comply with its code of social responsibility and ethical labour practices."

The accreditation followed a comprehensive audit by a multi-disciplinary team that proved Amorim adhered to detailed criteria relating to ethical conduct and health and safety in the workplace.

Spirited support from Raro
Amorim's bar top cork unit, Raro, sponsored two important events for the whisky and bourbon industries in September - Whisky Live Glasgow and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

Over 1500 people enjoyed sampling more than 50 different Scotch whiskies at Whisky Live Glasgow. Amorim sponsored the exhibitors' and media lounges at the event from 10-11 September.

Damian Riley-Smith of event organiser, Whisky Magazine, said: "I thank Amorim for all its support and participation in the first Whisky Live Glasgow. We are already thinking of new ways of working together. After all, cork and whisky have been together since the beginning of time!"

At the 13th Annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival more than 30,000 people attended 35 events from 15-19 September.

Amorim supported the organisers of the event and presented each of the Kentucky Bourbon Master Distillers with an engraved crystal decanter.

Amorim's bar top cork division supports the whisky and bourbon industries.

Cork preferred: US surveys
The annual closure survey by leading US publication Wine Business Monthly showed natural cork the clear favourite in the over $10/bottle category in a summary of the survey findings released in June.

Personnel from more than 150 American wineries completed the survey with respondents also suggesting natural cork was the strong leader in terms of consumer acceptance.

A US consumer survey conducted by British-based Wine Intelligence supports the view.

Published in June, the survey report titled Closures: The US Consumer View explores how closures are perceived by different demographic and behavioural segments in the US.

The report said that: "US consumer attitudes towards bottle closures do not generally support wine trade enthusiasm for alternatives. Traditional cork remains by far the most favoured closure for a clear majority of American consumers."

Wine Intelligence concluded that a migration to screw-cap at this point in time was a high risk strategy in the US market.

In a summary of the report findings, Wine Intelligence said: "It is clear from the data that, all things being equal, a typical American wine consumer would prefer to wind a corkscrew into a traditional cork stopper."


Market research shows that a clear majority of US consumers prefer their wine to be sealed with natural cork.