Amorim develop new low cost cork closure

The Acquamark closure has been developed using advanced cork production technology to provide winemakers with a clean natural cork stopper at a highly competitive price. It takes its name from the water-based coating that fills in the shank lenticells for maximum sealing capacity, ensuring total particle retention while the stopper is in the bottle.

As is the case with all natural cork closures, Acquamark is made from renewable resources, is recyclable and biodegradable. Cork also plays an important role in carbon dioxide retention, protection of biodiversity and prevention of desertification in the Mediterranean.

“Acquamark is an environmentally-friendly quality-graded whole cork stopper with consistent visual appearance that enhances closure performance and thus wine preservation,” explains Carlos de Jesus, Amorim’s director of communication.

“It is a welcome addition to Amorim’s product mix as it allows us to compete aggressively with producers of alternative closures, particularly in the ‘basic’ and ‘popular premium’ sectors of the wine market,” says de Jesus. “New technology means we can produce a cost effective natural cork closure for sectors where price competition is at its fiercest.

“Wineries are often faced with a difficult choice on closures between cost effective options and those that deliver both premium and environmental benefits,” de Jesus continues. “With Acquamark there no longer needs to be a compromise.”

Acquamark is the newest product from Amorim. The cork producer offers a range of products from the top grade hand-punched whole corks and its best-selling Twin Top that has whole cork discs at either end of a fine composite shank, to the classic Champagne stoppers designed to withstand extreme bottle pressure whilst meeting Champagne DOC rules, and last year’s debut Spark One, a pliable easy-pull composite stopper for the expanding ‘every-day’ sparkling wine sector.

"Our aim is to provide a range of stoppers that offer all the advantages of natural cork, but are available at every price point,’ concludes de Jesus. ‘Some of our cork closures currently undercut alternative stoppers by as much as 50%. Cork is not just the natural choice. It can also be the ‘alternative to the alternatives'."

1 July 2009 - Felicity Murray