Buehler Chardonnay Turns Plastic Into Gold.

Business Editors/Food & Wine Writers

As vintners seek to protect their wines from the ongoing dilemma of taint, Buehler Vineyards not only found a "winning" alternative solution using Nomacorc LLC synthetic closures, but also won a gold medal and "Best of Class" for their 2000 Buehler Russian River Valley Chardonnay at the May 2002 Los Angeles County Fair "Wines of the World" Wine Competition.

Says John Buehler Jr., President of Buehler Vineyards, about the Los Angeles County Fair Wine Competition, "We've turned plastic into gold. I felt absolutely confident that I could send this wine to the competition without a concern that the wine would not show well due to a taint issue."

"Our challenge as winemakers is to intervene as little as possible in the process as we capture the quality of the fruit, bottle it, and share the results with our customers. However, our wines can only be as good as the closure allows. Even a low risk of taint is unacceptable," explains Buehler Jr. "We chose Nomacorc synthetic corks because they had the best technology, the most aesthetically pleasing look, and overall the most consistent product. By using Nomacorcs, we ensure that our consumers can enjoy the final wine as we intended."

Buehler Vineyards has bottled its White Zinfandel with Nomacorc synthetic products for two years and the 2000 Russian River Valley Chardonnay was the first vintage of Chardonnay to use Nomacorcs. Buehler has since bottled its Zinfandel with the synthetic corks as well. "Our transition from natural to synthetic corks has been seamless, thanks to NewPak USA, our cork supplier. We will continue to use Nomacorcs in all of our wines that we feel confident will be consumed within the following five years," says Buehler Jr.

Long before "Family Winery" became a trendy term on wine labels, the father and son team of John Buehler Sr. and John Buehler Jr. built their dream high on the eastern slopes of Napa Valley. Buehler Vineyards now encompasses 300 acres of Napa Valley hillside terrain, and strives to capture the concentration and intensity of the hillside fruit by crafting wines that are not only age-worthy, but lush and drinkable today. Buehler Vineyards is located at 820 Greenfield Road in Saint Helena, Calif., and can be reached at [phone] or www.buehlervineyards.com.

NewPak USA is part of the Cork Supply Group and can be reached at www.newpakusa.com.

Nomacorc LLC seeks to become the leading worldwide manufacturer of the highest quality, synthetic closures through aggressive research and development. Partnering with wine industry leaders such as Buehler Vineyards, Nomacorc is setting the standard for superior closures, ensuring customer satisfaction & loyalty. Nomacorc LLC is located at 505 NMC Drive in Zebulon, N.C., and can be reached at [phone] or www.nomacorc.com.