Thesis information request! 'Green winecorks'

[Blackbadger]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for taking a minute to read this! I'm a 32 year old industrial designer studying at HDK Design school in Göteborg, Sweden (but am from vancouver, canada).

I'm working on a large project here in which I'm trying to develop alternatives to using natural cork as a closure in wine bottles. Metal screwcaps are largely used, as are rubber synthetic 'corks', but these are really not optimal solutions, and hardly green at all!

Essentially I am looking into developing a type of 'biocomposite' that will combine some type of reclaimed biomass with a totally natural resin or binding agent. Obviously the final product will need to be 100% inert, and not effect the wine in any way at all.

My question is if anyone here has any experience with eco-friendly resins or glues (for want of a better term), and would be interested in zipping me along a bit of information!

Thanks so much in advance, all my best

-James Thompson

[Ecocustomhomes]

Natural Cork, is the greenest product available. Cork is a renewable resource. The trees are farmed and cared for very well. I would focus on how the cork is processed. Or maybe a program that recycles used corks. Such as a deposit paid on every cork returned.

[inkabinkaboo182]

You can also focus on organic/biodynamic cork farming (that is, how to make the cork farming sustainable).

If you want a good start on this, read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dillema." The section about a biodynamic farm is extremely interesting a great guide for farmers.

[Ecocustomhomes]

With wine, anything that will age over 5 years must have a natural cork. The flavors - aromas develop with air contact. So, for higher end wine, you will never be able to replace a good quality cork.

With wine that is consumed with a year or 2, (90% of all wine), aging does not matter. Also figure in that 1 in 12 bottles are off, it makes sense to use another product to seal wine. Screw caps are good. (My wife still uses a cork screw on these bottles. Not Recommended) You can find wine up to $100 USD with screw caps. I have had a few good white burgundies in screw caps. Composite corks are ok. The Austrians have a glass enclosure. So there are many different options.

[mobius]

Blackbadger,
Is natural cork not environmentally friendly produt, or is it just uneconomical compared to the other alternative? Just curious as to why one would want to move away from natural cork (which I really don't know much about).

[Blackbadger]

Hi everyone, thanks for the input! It's obviously a very very hot topic in the wine industry! Natural cork *should* be the best alternative, but poor handling and production practices lead to very high instances of wines being 'corked', the common name for Trichloroanisol tainting.

The glass stopper method has been rather successfull so far. The metal screwcaps are seeing the exact opposite problem that corks are, in that corks can let in too much air (oxidize the wine), metal screwcaps create a totally anerobic environment with a too-perfect seal, causing sulfur buildups. So obviously the ideal solution hasn't been found yet.

Honestly, I think it's mostly our own romanticized notions that are keeping the natural corks in use though. Many cork exporters happily accept a 5-10% product failiure rate (tainted cork)...good thing Boeing doesn't work the same way!

Cork farming in theory should be rather green, but the dissapointing reality is that in order to keep up with global demand, many growers have to take shortcuts in their methods.

In very broad strokes, what i am looking to do is to take discarded virgin biomass, and use it to create a biocomposite that will hopfully bridge the gap between traditional cork semantics and newer / more controllable materials.

Again, thanks so much for the input, it's really aiding me in sorting through reams and reams of research here. Believe it or not, reading about wine corks is not exactly 'sex drugs and rock n' roll', ha ha ha

New world wineries (USA, canada, new zealand) are rather open to new methods, so screwcaps have had a lot of success there. Places like france and italy are very very disinterested in change in this matter.

One of the absolute KEY issues I'm looking into in this project, is how important the oxygen is to the maturation of wines. Some wineries swear by it, others say it's not an issue at all.

Long way to go, that's for sure.

-James

[Blackbadger]

@Mobius: The problem with natural cork is that it changes the chemistry of the wine. When the winemaker develops the wine, cork is not present, only after it's left the winery. The in-bottle aging process is the result of mico-amounts of oxygen in the wine, nothing to do with the cork itself. Natural cork causes lots of problems as the cork industry is unable to keep up with global demand, so lower and lower grade cork is getting out into the marketplace.

Take a brand-new, pristine cork and drop it in a glass of water for a few days. The water will go light tea-coloured. Drink it if yer feelin brave That obviously affects the wine.

To my original post, did anyone have any information about bio-resins or very green 'glues' or binding agents?

Thanks again everyone
-J