Wine association partners zero carbon closure

Nomacorc, the producer of wine closures, and Vino Libero, an association of 12 Italian wine producers and one distillery, have established a partnership agreement to improve wine quality and promote their products with a strong focus on environmental sustainability.

Nomacorc's Select Bio, claimed to be the first wine closure with zero carbon footprint, is 100% recyclable and made with renewable biopolymer materials derived from sugar cane. The Select Bio closure is also said to reduce wine waste resulting from cork taint or oxygen mismanagement issues like oxidation and reduction.

"The Vino Libero project is focused on the environment and the health of the consumer, both in the vineyards and in the cellar,” says Andrea Macchione, CEO of Fontanafredda, one of Italy’s oldest and most respected wineries in Piemonte, and CEO of the Vino Libero alliance. “This collaboration stems from the desire of both Vino Libero and Nomacorc to constantly innovate and be at the forefront of new opportunities and projects.”

“Both companies know that the wine market in the future will bring more and more carefully educated, prepared consumers who demand excellence in their wines,” says Macchione.

Vino Libero wines are free from synthetic fertilisers (wineries only use natural organic fertilisers), free from herbicides (land is maintained according to traditional practices) and free from high sulphite levels (wines contain at least 40% less sulphites than the limit established by law).

Macchione adds: “Partnering with Nomacorc has allowed us to take another important step toward our ambitious goal of ridding wine from anything and everything that may negatively interfere with wine quality, in order to rediscover the intrinsic and authentic values of wine. Nomacorc Select Bio closures, therefore, are perfect for our wineries seeking cutting-edge technology and environmental awareness.”

Vinitaly maked the official launch of the Vino Libero and Nomacorc partnership, after which wineries will begin to use Select Bio for 2014 bottlings.

10 April 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor