I recently received a bottle of this wine as a media sample and I was intrigued by the story they had to tell along with the wine. They were reaching out to share news about a change they made to the bottle closure.
As consumers, we often don’t give a lot of thought to the cork or other closure that’s used on a bottle of wine. Sure, we notice when a bottle has a screw cap. And when we pull a cork from a bottle of wine we may have some likes and dislikes related to the type of cork used. But we typically don’t consider the closure as a factor when selecting a bottle of wine. Maybe we should.
The most common closure is the natural cork. And while I like the feel of a natural cork, there’s always a risk that a wine sealed with a cork will be flawed due to cork taint. This most frequently comes from a fungus that releases a chemical called trichloroanisole or TCA. When a wine has a lot of TCA it smells horrible, like wet, moldy cardboard. But even trace amounts of TCA can strip a wine of it’s aromas and flavors, making it much less enjoyable. And often, untrained consumers never know a wine has cork taint, they just think it’s bad wine. I’ve been amazed by how frequently I’ve encountered friends that are drinking a tainted wine and don’t even realize it.
So the news from Avalon is that that they are switching to a synthetic closure called “Select Bio” from Nomacorc for their Avalon CAB. In full disclosure, I have a friend who works for Nomacorc, so I’m pretty familiar with their products. One of the key advantages from using a Nomacorc closure is that it eliminates the risk of cork taint, but it goes beyond that.
Nomacorc engineers their closures to specific oxygen transfer specs, which enable the wine to “breath” in the bottle. Winemakers can choose more or less oxygen transfer, based on which closure they use. And it makes a huge difference. I’ve participated in some tastings where the same wine was bottled using different Nomacorc closures with different specs and the impact on the wine can be dramatic. It makes the bottle aging truly become part of the winemaking process. So beyond just avoiding bad flavors entering the wine from a flawed natural cork, winemakers can shape the aromas and flavors in a wine through their closure selection.
Another thing I like about the Nomacorc Select products is that they look and feel like a natural cork. While I understand the advantages of synthetic corks, I don’t like ones that feel like plastic and Nomacorc has eliminated that problem.
All of those are just some of the reasons why Avalon chose to make the switch. The other driver for Avalon is their quest for environmental sustainability. Avalon became accredited as a Certified California Sustainable Winery in 2012 and they saw the use of the Nomacorc Select Bio product as another step in that direction. Select Bio corks are made from renewable plant-based materials, with zero carbon footprint and are recyclable.
All of that is great, but as always I’m more interested in the wine itself. This cab is surprisingly perfumey — and it’s a good surprise. It has intense violet, licorice, vanilla and cherry aromas. It’s really nice. The flavors are also quite nice, bringing super bright cherry and red raspberry flavors up front, evolving into blackberry, spice and cherry. The mouthfeel is nice and the acidity is good. It finishes a little quickly, but it’s pleasant. Overall, this is a nice cabernet for under $15.
Wine: Avalon CAB
Varieties: 76% cabernet sauvignon, 13% syrah, 7% zinfandel, 4% merlot
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 86
Average price: $12.99
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
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