Vineyard & Winery Management

May/June 2013

Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 50 of 115

Amorim's new QC lab in Napa performs cork soak tests in sample wines to screen for problems. Photo: Ted Rieger Cork Companies Build and Upgrade in the U.S. Northern California facilities enable improved quality control BY TED RIEGER, SENIOR FEATURE EDITOR AT A GLANCE + Cork producers have made major efforts to improve quality control (QC) and prevent cork taint. + Several major suppliers have built or upgraded facilities in Northern California in the past decade. + Amorim is the latest cork supplier to open a facility in Northern California. + The major Northern California facilities follow Cork Quality Council protocols, testing and documentation. w w w. v w m media.com atural cork producers have made significant efforts to improve quality control at every step in the cork production process, including harvesting, handling and processing of raw cork material in cork oak forests and processing facilities. Once the raw cork material is treated, sanitized, graded and screened at the source, bags of punched corks are shipped to Northern California cork suppliers for finishing. What happens once the corks reach California plays an important role in the quality control process. With this in mind, the California-based Cork Quality Council (CQC) has established test procedures and standards for its member companies with California facilities, including chemical screening for TCA, sensory tests using cork soaks, visual quality, moisture, dimensions, and residual oxidants. Before CQC memM a y - J u n e 2 0 13 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 51

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Vineyard & Winery Management - May/June 2013