Episode 15: Corks and Closures - The what, how and why we use cork and other alternatives for packaging wine

In this episode Nile Zacherle is joined with Eric Herve' of ETS Labs, a PhD from the University of Bordeaux who helped develop the cork taint test for TCA pushing the cork industry to higher standards of quality, Dustin Mowe, President of Porta-Cork (subsidiary of Amorim) with nearly 30 years of experience with cork (owner of Mowe Napa Valley) and closures as well as Dan Petrowski a veteran winemaker and founder of Massican Wines who has worked to define his approach to closures from the perspective of the consumer and producer alike. We discuss how cork is grown, sourced and produced then delve into the details and challenges we've had from in the last 3 decades of its use. We also discuss the dominance of micro-agglomerated corks in todays wine packaging along with natural cork's functional esthetic and its importance to the higher-end luxury segment. The issues of taint from compounds like TCA/TBA/QBA, their origins and our continuous goal to keep it out of our wine and the cellar! All in all there is a lot to chew on here so grab a cork and prepare to up your Cork Dork game.