Amorim a major sponsor

Amorim has completed a highly successful partnership with one of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits competitions, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.

Staged in Brussells since 1994, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles left its traditional home for the first time this year and was held in Lisbon in April.

Amorim was a major sponsor of this year’s Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.

Cork inside

The 2005 Albariño from boutique Spanish winery Viña Araújo (www.adegaaraujo.com) will carry a necktag indicating the wine is sealed with a natural cork.

“To ensure wines of the highest quality that express the unique character of our environment, we limit production and the use of additives and other interventions in our winemaking,” said winemaker José Araújo Peña.

“We use real cork to seal our wines because it is a natural, sustainable product that also allows the wine to develop as nature intended.

Grange sticks with cork

Leading Australian winemaker Penfolds was recently moved to deny reports that its most famous wine, Grange Hermitage, was to be released under screwcap.

Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds Wines, said the company had simply put a small parcel under screwcap as a trial to explore how Grange ages under screwcap compared to cork.

South Africa celebrates

Amorim Cork South Africa celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. In that time it has distributed more than one billion corks to South African wineries.

Today, the company continues to grow with the country's burgeoning wine industry and is recognised as one of its most active supporters.

One of the highlights of the milestone year for Amorim Cork South Africa will be achieving Global Standards accreditation with the British Retail Consortium.

This achievement will complement the ISO and HACCP accreditations the company achieved late last year.

Study looks at closure impact

The Amorim Academy has initiated meetings of industry experts to explore three key issues relating to closures.

Heading the list of topics is the environment and sustainable development, with an expert panel discussing the impact different closures have on the preservation of the planet.

A second group has explored the role of closures as a marketing tool, while a third examined the impact of closures on the evolution of wine.

The three groups will present their findings at the OIV Congress in Logrono, Spain on 28 June.

The Amorim Academy has initiated a study of closure issues.

Spain demands cork

Spain has passed a law that requires wineries in 11 top wine producing regions to seal their wines with cork.

Under the law, wineries must use a cork closure on still and sparkling wines in order to receive DO (Denominacion de Origen) status.  The use of screwcaps and synthetic closures is outlawed.

Masters of cork

When an international party of qualified Masters of Wine and students visited Portugal recently a visit to Amorim was high on the agenda.

The group received a presentation on Amorim’s research and development projects followed by a tour of the company’s high-tech production facilities.

“It was an invaluable visit,” said Lisa Granik, wine buyer for the influential wholesaler Charmer Industries in New York.

“I now have a much clearer understanding of the scientific issues that influence closure choice — and was even able to recommend Amorim to a local wine producer.”
 

A corked screwcap

Leading Australian wine authority Len Evans has been selecting wines for Qantas airlines for 42 years. 

Qantas takes great care in its selection process with wines tasted 'blind' by a panel comprising top wine professionals. Yet even they can err.

At a recent tasting several bottles were rejected because they were said to be cork tainted. The real denouncement came when the faulty bottles were identified as sealed with screwcaps.

"I do get rather disgruntled about the number of faulty wines that are called corked when they are not,” said Evans.

Still on Evans, at a dinner to celebrate his 75th birthday last year guests indulged in 14 different wines made in 1929. According to Evans, not a single bottle had any element of cork taint.

Len Evans — disgruntled about faulty wines being labeled as cork tainted when they are not.