Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/859549
{ SOMMjournal.com } 69 "e natural cork is a true valid sustainable part of our ear. e cork tells a story." — Kim Stare Wallace, President of Dry Creek Vineyards they were not airtight and the wines were oxidized by year two. The polymers and pore structure are 1,000 times larger than a natural cork carbon ring." There is a tendency for winemakers to sparge TOSC bottles with SO 2 , or volatile sulfur compounds, to help prevent prem-ox, giving the wines shelf life and stability but leaving them inert, stinging and slightly bitter as well. At Planet Grape Wine Review we employ the "grape goddess three-day rule," opening and tasting wines over a three-day window without any preserving system. We see screwcapped wines improve the most dramatically. Executive Peter Weber of the California-based Cork Quality Council says, "Sauvignon Blanc is a favorite, but I find them bitter and sulfurous. Good Sauvignon Blancs lend themselves to development for up to 15 years. The natural cork is the only choice. Over the lifetime of the wine, the cork has less permeability." There is the issue of how to handle the wines tableside. What is the protocol: Twist and present? Twist and pocket the screwcap? Either way, there is certainly none of the romance associated with the traditional removal of the natural bark closure. Kim Stare Wallace, President of Dry Creek Vineyards, one of the few remaining iconic legacy wineries under family control, prefers corks in a restaurant setting, which is why all but their "blancs" (Sauvignon, Fumé and Chenin, which are popular pours) are natural- cork finished. "We are very much fans of cork," says Wallace. "We provide detailed information on our labels, and it came to me to do the same on our corks. We have the first design patent in the world that allows us to provide relevant geeky winemaking information right on the cork: the name of the forest, the tree, the date of harvest, etc. Why don't we provide consumers with the same authentic information about the source of the cork as we do about the source of the grapevines? And it works. I have witnessed people picking up the cork and start reading it! It is a true valid sustainable part of our earth. The cork tells a story." Jordan's Assistant Winemaker, Margaret Kruse, who oversees the winery's cork QC program, says, "Our consumers are struck by the visual and structural quality of our corks. We pick top-grade corks, then sort ten to fifteen percent out, those that might have wormholes, chips or cracks. It is important for our customers who will hold our wine for ten to fifteen, or twenty, years." She adds, "It is impressive how Portugal manages the forests and production. It is really well-organized and all done by hand. A seasoned vet and his apprentice take a little ax to the tree while the women are in the forest making lunch—and in 30 minutes have harvested it. The bark is shipped to the factories in the North, where it sits out for eight months to dry, then it is brought in, boiled, and punched, old-school, still in long strips of bark, sometimes using feet to get the punches to get the cork out. It's a craft. It is impressive how quickly they do it. Everything is used. There is no waste. Leftovers go for agglomerated closures or fashion." Weber adds, "Even before global warming, the industry practiced sustainable farming. Even the dust is used to run generators or heat up boilers to make the glue used for Champagne corks. Boatloads of granulated cork are used for shoe foot-beds, flooring, yoga pads, you name it. They don't need a garbage can. It is 100 percent biodegradable, and 100 percent used." Weber is not a fan of agglomerated corks (other than the three-disc layered mush - room agglomerate used for Champagne) as the cork/urethane combination may leach unpleasant flavors into the wine. Ridge's Baugher has been conducting pre-sensory cork The Jordan Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. "Our consumers are struck by the visual and structural quality of our corks," says Jordan's Assistant Winemaker Margaret Kruse, who oversees the winery's cork QC program. PHOTO COURTESY OF JORDAN VINEYARD & WINERY Ridge Vineyards has been conducting pre-sensory cork tests by smaller and smaller batches since 1994. PHOTO: JAMEY THOMAS, COURTESY OF RIDGE VINEYARDS