Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/299589
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m M a y - J u n e 2 014 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 4 7 defined by the Cork Quality Coun- cil (CQC) is in place, every manu- facturer, even those that are part of the same parent company, uses different terms for their various grades or quality levels. The CQC's guidelines are a straightforward A, B and C visual grading system that all members must adhere to and the terms Flor, Extra, Super and First are also commonly used by the industry to differentiate quality categories. But companies such as M.A. Silva USA, based in Santa Rosa, Calif., have as many as nine pro- prietary visual grades for one size alone. President and owner Neil Foster points to the focus on mar- Dustin Mowe, president at Napa, Calif.-based Portocork, "What's dif- ficult for wineries is that there are more than 20 cork suppliers and we all use our own terminology. The definition of the quality level for an Extra grade cork means something different to everyone. It's like using the term 'reserve' on a bottle of California wine." A MIXED BAG For example, a lot of Flor-grade cork will typically contain a range of quality levels with more than two-thirds being A grade and the rest a mixture of B and C grades. "There's always a little bit of every- t h i n g , " M o w e s a i d , " w i t h t h e number of A's falling off as you go down the scale. Lesser grades may contain only a small percentage of A-quality corks." At Portocork, prices for standard top-quality 49 mm natural cork typi- cally run between $700 and $2,000 per 1,000-cork lot, and wineries often pay an additional fee to have the lot sorted into different quality levels. Many wineries will reserve the A-grade corks for use in their top-tier wines and the remainder of keting and packaging in the United States, which he said varies glob- ally: "Wineries choose cork grades depending upon their brand and marketing objectives. Many want to customize corks with images that have a high level of detail, grayscale and with numbering or coding." M.A. Silva was one of the first suppliers in Northern California to invest in a digital laser printer for that purpose, and other suppliers are following suit. Foster said that security measures will soon be incorporated into the customization process as well. The concept of grading may be standardized, but according to Neil Foster of M.A. Silva USA says win- eries choose grades of cork to coincide with their brand image. The Cork Quality Council defines A-grade cork as having top- quality visual appearance, with no major visual flaws and few small ones. Parameters include: + No holes or pores that exceed 2 mm + No cracks originating at the ends that exceed 11% of the cork's length + No cracks in the body of the cork to exceed 18% of the cork length + No horizontal cracks + Any cracks must be tight and not open + No worm holes, hardwood, belly spots or greenwood + Narrow and shallow lenticels are acceptable if they are free of dust and particles. TOP-GRADE CORK STANDARDS ASME Code Certiļ¬ed