Top Portuguese wine producer switches to caps By Henrique Almeida
Wed Apr 19, 2:22 PM ET
LISBON (Reuters) - A top Portuguese wine maker has announced he is switching from corks to aluminum bottle caps, causing alarm in the world's biggest cork-producing country.
Miguel Champalimaud, owner of the Quinta do Cotto vineyard, said on Wednesday some critics had even accused him of lack of patriotism by moving to screw caps.
"Today a cork is more expensive than a liter of wine. We have become cork salesmen instead of wine sellers," Champalimaud told Reuters.
Quinta do Cotto, on the Douro River in northern Portugal, is among several premier Portuguese vineyards whose wines are gaining in popularity around the world.
The switch to screw caps is a blow to an industry that believes the pop of a cork is part of the tipple's appeal.
"We are obviously unhappy with this move because one of the main drivers for the cork industry is the wine sector," said Joaquim Lima, head of the Portuguese Cork Association.
Champalimaud said the change would save him about 20 cents (25 U.S. cents) a bottle.
Portuguese revenue from cork, which comes from the bark of the cork oak, is about 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion) a year. Seventy percent of output is used for wine stoppers.
However, about 5 percent of natural corks are defective and cause the wine to spoil, leading to increasing use of screw caps by producers in such countries as France and Australia.
The cork industry is hitting back with an advertising campaign featuring Jose Mourinho, Portuguese manager of top English soccer club Chelsea.
Wine producers in Spain's Catalonia region were required at the end of 2005 to use only corks to seal their bottles.
Portuguese wine critic Joao Paulo Martins said other local vineyards could follow Quinta do Cotto's example.
"Our national pride is a little damaged from this issue," he said.
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