Do Screw Caps & Other Plastic Closures Cause Cancer & Hurt The Environment? w/ Patrick Spencer director of CorkReHarvest.org

Last week I wrote an article on this highly controversial subject, The Great Cork Debate which got the attention of a few organizations involved in supporting sustainable viticulture and recycling used corks. One email led to another and I ended up in a dialogue with Patrick Spencer from CorkReharvest.org and invited him to do an interview.

I just finished my interview with Patrick Spencer, director of CorkReHarvest.org and boy was it informative. To summarize, I learned that screw caps are not easily recyclable in the US. While plastic is recyclable we have a island of plastic in the middle of the ocean that is larger than Texas. So, is plastic really recyclable? Additionally, Aluminum, from which screw caps are made, remains one of the most environmentally devastating and energy intensive mining practices that impacts not only the environment but our health. Consider this,  if approximately 96 percent of all wines in the US are consumed right away and the majority of the wines that are selling are the less expensive, ready to drink wines that are turning to plastic and screw cap closures, that means there are a lot of plastic and screw cap closures that are mucking up the environment.

Cork taint is down to less than 1% and cork harvesting is a very natural process which doesn’t harm the trees nor does it cut down trees. The cork tree is one of the only trees that you can strip and it won’t die because the bark is dead.

More over, winery’s, wine makers are not using screw caps or plastic closures because it make a better wine but because it is cheaper than natural cork. You would think that at the very least the cost of the wine would decrease but the benefit all goes to the winery. How can a winery say they are practicing sustainable viticulture when they stop at the closure? I understand we are all trying to cut back expenses, but what I would like to see is a solution in which winery’s can save money without potentially harming us or the environment.

Just because the winery switches to ulterior closures like screw caps or plastic stoppers, doesn’t mean that the wine they sell you will cost less, in fact, the price stays the same. The benefit is in the winery’s pocket. So, then does it all comes down to profit? Screw caps and plastic closures aren’t environmentally friendly, they pose danger to upset of one of the largest bio diverse systems in the world and more importantly a loss of livelihood for hundreds of thousands of families. Worst still is that screw caps leech endocrine disruptors in wine which are directly linked to cancer. Wine is a solvent and wine and plastic should never meet. This new research obviously puts a cork in my wine drinking. I mean let’s face it, we all drink wine because it enhances our epicurean experience, relaxes us and it’s fun, the health benefits just happen to be a bonus! But one of the many reasons I drink wine, and why many of my wino friends drink wine, is because of the health benefits. “One to three glasses a day (of red wine), keeps the doctor a way.” To think that the fruit I’ve come to love so much now causes the very thing that I thought I was protecting myself against…just is, well, devastating.

The research was conducted by a team based in 3 countries; the Research Institute for Chromatography and the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, University of Gent in Belgium; the Department of Chemistry, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa; and the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.

‘My concern is that this evidence came from research in 2000, yet when the Screwcap Initiative was launched in New Zealand in 2002 none of those involved had bothered to check the health risk of these closures,’ says Keith Stewart. ‘Subsequently representative bodies such as New Zealand Winegrowers have been prepared to endorse the specious claims of the Screwcap Initiative’s closure promotion without concern for the best interests of public safety or those of the whole New Zealand wine industry, specifically those who reject the screwcap argument.’

‘This is not an argument about which closure produces the best wine,’ Stewart adds. ‘It is about public health, and the overwhelming advice from leaders in cancer research is to treat endocrine disruptors with extreme caution. Putting PVdC in direct contact with a solvent solution (wine) that through the action of alcohol takes EDs to numerous sites of cell in the human body is negligence. It is time for the Screwcap Initiative to admit their mistake and secure safer seals for the closures they are promoting.’ Taken from Truewines

What can you do?
-Ask your local restaurants, wine shops and suppliers to support wineries who practice sustainable viticulture all the way to the closure.

-Recycle your corks at your nearest Whole Foods Market or Cork Depository

-Donate to CorkReharvest.org

-Spread the Word!

Listen to this very informative interview to get the facts!

Screw Caps, Plastic Stoppers and Corks: The Great Cork Debate!

Listen to interview with Patrick Spencer, director of CorkReHarvest.org!

Screw Caps, plastic stoppers and Corks. This major debate goes on and everyone is a bit tossed in the air about it. Most of my wine drinking friends are stuck on the idea that wine just isn’t wine if it isn’t corked and then there are people like me who are less concerned about the way the bottle looks and more concerned about the ramifications screw caps and plastic stoppers will have on people’s livelihoods and the environment.

Recently Wine Spectator published an article, Cork Screwed: Screw Caps Ace Test, backing up the screw caps and how they out perform, not only the cork, but all the various closures on every level. Apparently the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) did a 10-year study testing a variety of closures, 14 total, with thousands of bottles of 1999 Clare Semillon wines made at Leasingham and the results were unanimous that the screw cap beat every other closure. Peter Godden, group manager at AWRI, concluded that most of the wines sealed with closures other than a screw cap were completely undrinkable.

The Other Side Of The Cork:

Last week while in Whole Foods, I picked up a little article put out by the organization CorkReHarvest.org, Willamette Valley Vineyards, Whole Foods  Market and The Rainforest Alliance. Even though the piece of paper wasn’t fancy and didn’t have much printed on it, what it did have was a message that was pretty powerful. There argument, I have to admit, was much more compelling than a bunch of researchers in white coats who while improving wines drinkability aren’t considering the environment or the people who would stand to suffer from loss of work.

While I see both sides to the cork controversy, the thought of people losing their livelihood when it is all they know…well that is taking someone’s way of life away from them and the thought of throwing people into poverty seems crazy to me. We now take away all that they know and make them dependent on their government, and cripple them which in my opinion, I am willing to take my chances on a few bad bottles of wine than to take away a people’s way of supporting themselves.

Here are some facts from CORK REHARVEST

Environmentally Friendly Harvesting
Cork is a 100% natural, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable material that is obtained through an environmentally friendly harvesting process

Hand-Harvest for Long Life
Trees are not cut down to harvest cork, rather, the bark is stripped by hand every 9-12 years. Cork oak trees can live up to 300 years!

Supporting Great Biodiversity
Approximately 6.6 million acres of Mediterranean cork forest extend across Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France. These oak forests support one of the world’s highest levels of forest biodiversity, second only to the Amazonian Rainforest.

Providing Livelihood
Opting for screw caps and plastic stoppers directly causes the loss of sustainable livelihoods as the cork forests are a vital source of income for thousands of families.

Utilization of A Great Resource
There is enough cork in the cork forests of Portugal and Spain to last more than 100 years. The introduction of new products, such as composite corks, allows even better utilization of existing cork resources, using granulated cork that can be obtained from smaller pieces of raw cork otherwise unusable in the production of conventional punched cork.

Alternative Closure Information
Unlike natural corks, many synthetic wine corks are made from materials that are not biodegradable and are not sustainably sourced. Disadvantages of synthetic corks include; a difficulty in extracting them from the bottle, the inability to use the plastic cork to reseal the wine, and that some can also impart a slight chemical flavor to the wine.

Aluminum screwcaps are not currently being recycled due to the plastic sealer and adhesive attached to them. The production of screwcaps gives off over 10kg of CO2 per ton compared with 2.5kg of CO2 per ton for corks, according to tests conducted by Cairn Environment for Oeneo Bouchage in France. Taken from CorkReharvest.org

My conclusion: While the the screw cap seems to be a great alternative to the cork according to the AWRI researchers, I will stick with corks whenever I possibly can and support corks by recycling them. Of course I’m not going to turn down a bottle of great wine because it has a screw cap but it will make me think about those people who might be losing their jobs. Additionally, I will go to great measure to recycle my screw caps.

Listen to interview with Patrick Spencer, director of CorkReHarvest.org!

To Cork or Not To Cork: The Cork Controversy!

Yesterday as I was surfing the web researching some information for one of  my blogs and I came across this article on corks. I know all you professional fishers of men–ladies you know who you are– you might be wondering where the connection to fishing comes in, but I can assure you when I am talking about cork or cork taint…I’m not referring to fishing bobbers or men!

As of the past few years using cork as wine stoppers has been frowned upon and more and more wine makers are switching to synthetic aluminum screwcaps or other alternatives due to the pressure and as a result this has caused the great cork controversy.

Was a it a quick judgment call gone bad without the facts by our noble green friends?

On that note cork manufacturer Amorim conducted a study “Analysis of the life cycle of Cork, Aluminum and Plastic Wine Closures,” which resulted in findings that cork is the most environmentally responsible stopper!

The study “Analysis of the life cycle of Cork, Aluminum and Plastic Wine Closures,” commissioned by cork manufacturer Amorim and made public in December 2008, concluded that cork is the most environmentally responsible stopper, in a one-year life cycle analysis comparison with the plastic stoppers and aluminum screwcaps. -Compliments of Wikipedia

I found the entire article incredibly interesting, yeah I know I am a geek, and educational. For example, did you know that 50% of all cork comes from Portugal? Or that while screwcaps eliminate trichloroanisole (TCA/cork taint), it reduces oxygen exchange to zero. Everyone knows that in order for wine to age correctly it needs to interact with oxygen. Essentially what they are saying is that not only are screw caps environmentally unfriendly they reduce the quality in your yummy wines.

Go ahead read the article for yourself and share what you learned: Wikipedia! Makes for great wine trivia!

Be cork responsible and recycle! Take your used corks to the nearest Whole Foods where they go to great extents to have a recycle bin just for corks in their wine section! Thanks Whole Foods!

Additional Comments from Lucia an Italian Vintner:
Quercus suber. The cork tree grows naturally in a region bordering the western Mediterranean Sea. The major cork producing countries include Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy in Europe; and Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia in Africa.

Without a doubt, cork stoppers are the best solution for wines that need some ageing. For very young wines, wines that are to be consumed within a year or two, the screw caps could be just fine. Amorin which is a very good and serious cork producer does well in advocating the use of the cork; they are always doing valid research. However, there is so much wine being made now that whereas years ago the cork used to be harvested every 9 to 7 years, now (for most corks) is down to even 4. Corks are getting very expensive, they cost as much as a bottle and producers are often faced with cork problems. Perhaps, if screw caps were used for younger wines (vini d’annata in Italian) the wine would not suffer and there would be a greater supply of really good corks for the wines that need and merit aging. Compliments of Lucia, Vintner at  Villa Monteleone Winery in Italy