Listening to both Yoav Gilat and Terry Wheatley’s comments
regarding their wine labels and the level of detailed consideration that goes
into the labeling, I began to wonder about how much weight is placed on the decision
of sealing the wine with a cork versus a screw cap.
There are many important considerations when making this
decision beyond just branding and marketing. According to James Foster, senior
winemaker at Cupcake Vineyards, the decision is largely dependent on the type
of wine (not necessarily meaning the quality of the wine). (1) For example,
Foster uses screw caps for sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio because it more
effectively seals the bottle of wine, preventing oxygen from entering the
bottle and better preserving the wine. (1) He chooses cork or synthetic cork,
however, for chardonnay and red wines, which improve with the small amount of
oxygen that cork allows to enter the bottle. (1) In addition winemakers are
starting to abandon cork because of issues of cork taint, which causes the wine
to develop a moldy and musky taste. (2) Some studies say that cork taint
effects as many as one in ten bottle of wine. (2) Frustrated by frequency of
this issue, some wineries have even moved to 100% screw caps to eliminate the
problem all together. (2) While there are numerous scientific reasons for
opting for screw caps over cork, consumer perceptions could still be
controlling the winemakers’ decisions. (1)
Screw caps are a more economical option for winemakers and
were first adopted by winemakers producing cheaper wines. That plus the
diversion from the traditional cork created a perception among consumers that
screw top wines were cheaper and of a lesser quality than corked wines. Still,
winemakers have increasingly been choosing screw tops over cork. In the 1990s,
95% of wine was sealed with cork but that number dropped as low as 62% in 2009.
(2) The broad adoption of the screw top combined with its ease of use has been
gradually changing its perception.
Considering the thought and resources involved in creating a
wine label, I wonder how wineries choose to make labeling decisions and sealing
decisions together as opposed to independently. Does the type of seal change a
labeling strategy? Or are most wineries that choose to target customer segments
with modernized labels relatively unconcerned with the consumer’s hesitation to
select a screw top bottle?
Sources:
This is a very interesting topic to debate about. I think the biggest resistance against screw cap is the built-in perception of the consumers - not just from a quality perspective, but also from the "full-experience" of wine drinking. Drawing of the cork is such a unique experience - it's not a part of any popular alcoholic beverages except for wine - that people attribute a significant amount of emotional and experiential value to it. Opening a bottle of cork sealed wine is a ritual, and in fact quite literally so for the service industry (where to cut the foil, when to wipe the bottle top, how to remove the cork without breaking it, how to present the cork on the table, etc.). A screw cap simply does not share the sophistication in this regard.
ReplyDeleteHowever, screw caps can stand out if branded as a unique feature of the wine or a philosophical statement of the winemakers. It's not surprising that New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs have prevailed with its strong support of screw caps. It's a wine enjoyed relatively young, and the screw cap is a good reflection of that (reflecting images of easy access, modern, fresh). It's also a very young and uprising wine region, and the contre-courant of 100% use of screw cap is a bold fashion statement against the old world competitors. It would be interesting to see if the popularity screw cap can continue to grow in the world, and what regions / wines would benefit from and contribute to the perceived image of screw caps.
I think there's also a really interesting article discussing how millennials are contributing to the movement towards more screw tops for a few reasons:
ReplyDelete1) As we discussed in class, they're becoming a significant portion of wine consumers so wine makers are trying to capture that value
2) The cork vs. screw top comparison is very low on the list of important factors when millennials make purchasing decisions. They care more about contemporary labels or trying new brands.
3) Millennials appreciate the convenience of screw top.
Thought this was an interesting read since it talks about a specific customer segment that is contributing to the shift!
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/02/wine-cork-comeback/470961/
Thank you for sharing! Curious enough, I dug more into this topic and found that Australia is and was the first country to truly embrace the screw cap. 99 out of 100 bottles in Australia have screw caps and it seems that consumers have gotten over the idea that a cork may be for a "higher quality" product. In fact, the Australian Wine Research Institute executed a study to see the consistency of corks and screw caps in maintaining the quality of wine and the screw caps were far better. Taylors Winery led the charge in first transitioning to all screw caps and now the country is doing the same. In fact, New Zealand and the UK are now adopting it more so I am curious when the trend will be more widely adopted in the US!
ReplyDelete