Synthetic cork manufacturer Nomacorc has launched a software tool that claims to allows winemakers to tailor the closure to a specific wine.
The NomaSelector chooses the ‘optimum closure’ for a wine based on factors such as grape variety, region, winemaking style, storage and distribution and the wine’s desired shelf life.
Winemakers answer a questionnaire, and using the data submitted, the system uses an algorithm to determine the best closure, from the Nomacorc Select Series for the given wine.
The company, based in North Carolina, has been studying the impact of oxygen exchange through closures, along with research partners which include the Geisenheim Intitute, University of California Davis, the Australian Wine Research Institute, the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique at Montpellier (INRA), and the Centro de Aromas of the Catholic University of Chile.
Data from this research has gone into producing the algorithm used in the NomaSelector software.
‘We’ve created a tool that efficiently allows a winemaker to customise closure choice for an individual wine. The industry has come to recognise that closure selection is a functional phase of winemaking, and this new technology revolutionises that process for winemakers’, Maurizio Ugliano, enological research manager for Nomacorc said.
The Select Series 300, Nomacorc claims, allows oxygen ingress of 0.002cc of oxygen per day to enter the bottle. The Select 700 and 500 are more porous, allowing 0.0042cc and 0.003cc of oxygen into the bottle.
Written by Adam Lechmere
