Cork may pop back in bottle

Diam corks.

Screwcaps might have taken the wine world by storm over the past few years, but cork composite distributor Newpro Packaging is hoping the cork will make somewhat of a comeback.

Newpro is the sole local distributor of the Diam "closures" - an imported hi-tech cork composite for sealing wine bottles - and has struck a local production deal with a Hawkes Bay cork processing plant, as it seeks to significantly boost New Zealand sales.

It will have product treated and printed at winery products firm A Winning Influence.

Diam closures are made from fine-ground cork powder and are treated to eradicate the cause of "cork taint", which involves contaminants in corks producing an offensive odour and spoiling the flavour of wine. Newpro director Wayne Edwards said Diam eliminated cork taint to the point where it was beyond human detection.

Diam was introduced here two years ago, but until now Newpro's Diam has been sourced from Europe and printed in Australia.

Under the new arrangement, raw Diam corks will still be sourced from Europe but Edwards said having them printed and treated in Hawkes Bay would enable Newpro to service New Zealand clients much more quickly.

Newpro was turning over several million dollars a year with Diam in New Zealand and he hoped to double that over the next year.

The vast majority of New Zealand wine bottled this year is expected to have screwcaps. Edwards said the big switch from cork to screwcaps by the wine industry had been fuelled by concern about cork taint.

But just over a third of New Zealand wineries were now testing or using Diam. Sixteen wineries were using it exclusively while another 40 had indicated they would switch at least one wine from screwcap to Diam.

Edwards said an advantage of Diam was that it allowed oxygen into the bottle - at rates which could be standardised - and this allowed winemakers better control over the way wine matured.

Screwcaps were supposed to stop oxygen getting in, he said. "We've got a lot of interest from wineries not totally convinced about screwcaps."

He anticipated Newpro would have to expand local production.

NZ Winegrowers CEO Philip Gregan said about 80 per cent of wine bottled in New Zealand this year was expected to have screwcaps.

His organisation did not have a formal position on Diam, saying the choice of using it was up to wineries. But the switch from cork to screwcaps indicated winemakers were "pretty open-minded" about what to use.