11 April 2008

Vino-lok

If the choice of wine closure were purely based on aesthetics, surely the Vino-lok would win. In commercial production since 2004, this Alcoa idea is sadly still peripheral and uncommon.

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Posted by Edward at 3:40 PM

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7 comments:

GW said...

It's great. All Saints muscat has one. Pop! And a German wine made from Franconia I have in the pile has it. Yet to Pop!

Saturday, April 12, 2008 5:17:00 AM
Edward said...

GW,

I wonder whether it will ever be more than a niche player? Maybe if it was a few year earlier (and cheaper) things would be different.

I've got a Schloss Vollrad riesling to try with a vino-lok, but nothing else.

Perhaps the Germans will embrace this (given its German manufacturing base) and seal all their rieslings with it.

Sunday, April 13, 2008 7:28:00 AM
David McDuff said...

Germany does seem to be the one sure market foothold for the Vinolok. I first encountered it there during a visit at Weingut Keller (Rheinhessen) in 2004 and have since seen it on a fairly wide array of German wines.

Nonetheless, I do think the writing of its doom is already on the wall. It seems only a matter of time before it will lose out to the stelvin cap.

Sunday, April 13, 2008 10:55:00 PM
Joe said...

Following on David's comments, I first saw this on a cheap Austrian Zweigelt (Zantho). I thought this type of closure would be expensive...anybody know? Probably to be killed by the stevlin...

Monday, April 14, 2008 9:37:00 AM
Edward said...

Joe and David,

Thanks for the input. From what I understand (as someone as far removed from wine production as possible) it (vino-lok) is about twice the cost of a good cork and 3-4 times the cost of a screw cap. Lets say $1 per unit.

I wonder if there is a natural ceiling for stelvin, with some producers just totally opposed. Maybe they will opt for vino-lok. I get the idea (from my reaction and GW's) that consumers will like it, if they get the chance to use it.

It would be even better (aesthetically) if it was an inch longer. . .

Monday, April 14, 2008 9:10:00 PM
Anonymous said...

I love Vino-Lok and use it for nearly all my wines. It is just about the same cost as cork and stelvin:
50 cents per top for Vino-Lok, the same or less than the price of a high quality cork. The price per case of the German made Vino-Lok finish bottles is lower than the price per case of comparable quality cork finish bottles.
Stelvin is about 17 cents a piece, but the stelvin finish bottle is the most expensive per case.
It ends up being a wash.
I think Vino-Lok may catch on as I get daily phone calls from winemakers asking how we like using it & wanting to know where to get it.
Alcoa has done a very poor job of marketing the product in the US.
Only two suppliers on the west coast can provide the needed bottles and closures.

Sunday, May 18, 2008 2:45:00 AM
Edward said...

Anon,

Thanks for the additional detail and perspective.

I hope you're right and that it does catch on. It seems such an elegant and beautiful solution, though I wonder if it will still remain largely a seal for white wines. Given the resistance of some red wine producers to swap from cork, given they argue that some red wines seem to show better under cork that say Stelvin.

Monday, May 19, 2008 10:42:00 PM

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