Australian wineries say ‘screw it’ on wine closure debate

 

Australia’s love affair with the screwcap continues to blossom with a new industry survey revealing 93 per cent of Australian wineries use this type of wine closure.

The Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker inaugural Closure Report surveyed 266 wineries from across Australia on the type of wine closures they use on their bottled wine.  It also asked wineries to rate the four main wine closures used in Australia on price, performance, cost and consumer acceptance.

Consumer acceptance and wine quality were key reasons the survey respondents chose screwcaps as their preferred type of closure.

Grapegrower & Winemaker publisher, Winetitles, general manager Elizabeth Bouzoudis said Australian winemakers were instrumental in developing the use of screwcaps on wine bottles and growing consumer acceptance worldwide.

"This survey offers the most current closure data in Australia, to date, and demonstrates that Australian wineries continue to drive acceptance of this type of closure around the globe," Ms Bouzoudis said.

"In 2000, it was estimated that just 200,000 wine bottles in Australia were closed with screwcaps.  By 2004, it had grown 1000-fold to 200 million."

"Australia’s wine industry is unique in its acceptance of this type of wine closure. Only in New Zealand, do we see similar levels of screwcap use by wineries."

"In fact, in the United States and China we see the exact opposite, with consumers and the wine industry preferring natural and technical cork than any other type of closure."

According to the survey, 74% of the wineries that use screwcaps bottle more than three-quarters of their production under this type of closure.

Just 25% of the survey respondents said they use natural cork to close their wine, with almost half using it for less than a quarter of their bottled wine.

Respondents were also surveyed on their use of technical cork and synthetic closures, which are the two other main types of closures used in Australia. The survey showed just 24% of respondents used technical cork and 8% used synthetic closures.

Interestingly, screwcap use on Australian bottled wine dropped significantly if the wine was being sold in an export market.

The largest segment of Australian wines still closed with natural cork is on wine sold for more than $21 in China and the United States.

"There’s no doubt Australian wineries love screwcaps but these figures do show that consumer preference for cork, particularly in China and United States, still forces Australian wineries to use this type of closure, despite their own preferences," Ms Bouzoudis said.

"We plan to run this survey every year, as we’re interested to see if  pressure to bottle under cork rises, especially as the China wine export market continues to open up to Australia wine."

"Or, will Australian wineries continue to drive acceptance of screwcap in these export markets, as it has done in UK and Europe."

The survey was conducted online in November 2011, with results published in the Grapegrower & Winemaker November and December issues. The first half of the report is out this week in the November issue.  To subscribe go to www.winebiz.com.au/gwm/

*Closure data based on information presented at the 1st International Screwcap Closure Symposium, Marlborough, NZ in 2004.

Media Information: More key findings of the survey are below in the Closure Survey Key Findings.  If you would like to discuss these results further please contact the Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker editor Jennifer Barwick on 08 8369 9504 or 0413 512 745 or

Jennifer Barwick - Editor
Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker