International Panel Hosted by APCOR to Discuss Cork Closures in Napa.

NAPA, Calif. -- APCOR, The Portuguese Cork Association, will be hosting an international panel of experts to present and discuss the current state of natural cork closures for the wine industry. This Technical Cork Seminar, called A Closer Look At Cork Closures, will take place on June 23rd, 2006 in St. Helena, CA.

Highlights of this seminar include:

--ETS Laboratories, in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), will be releasing initial results from an ongoing study that is targeted at determining the true flaws of wines that are rejected by CIA patrons

--Dr. Alan Limmer, from New Zealand, to present on post-bottling reduction and permeability performance of natural cork wine closures

--Dr. Paulo Lopes, from Portugal, to present on his study results on wine closures' impact to oxygen diffusion rates

--Results of an American Vineyard Foundation study to determine the effectiveness of screening cork based on releasable TCA 

--Results from a market survey on wine closures

--Details on the current screening methods of the Cork Quality Council

"We are very excited to be able to provide American winemakers with this opportunity to have such an in-depth look at the research and programs that are occurring with cork closures," said Elisa Pedro, International Relations and Communications Director of APCOR. "To be able to listen to Dr. Limmer and Dr. Lopes within the same session is something that any winemaker wouldn't want to miss."

Dr. Alan Limmer, Scientist and Winemaker at Stonecroft Winery in New Zealand (NZ), has 20 years' winemaking experience and authored several articles published in Australia and NZ on associated topics. In the U.S., Dr. Limmer is best known for his two-part article, Do corks breathe? Origin of post bottling sulfides, detailing the impact of natural cork's ability to breathe and subsequent redox reactions and "reduction" of wines post-bottling. He holds a Doctorate in Chemistry, is Chair of the NZ Winegrowers' national research program, and was a Director of NZ Winegrowers for 12 years. In 2004, Dr. Limmer was awarded the Order of Merit by the New Zealand Government for services to winemaking, and in 2005 he was elected Fellow of the NZ Institute of Chemistry.

Dr. Paulo Lopes received his Ph.D. from the University Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, France. Along with Cedric Saucier and Yves Glories, Dr. Lopes has performed experiments on oxygen diffusion rates through different closure types used in wine bottling and the impact of diffusion rates on aging of wine. The results of these studies were recently published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

APCOR is a consortium of more than 280 cork companies, representing approximately 80% of the Portuguese cork business volume and 85% of all cork exports from Portugal. APCOR stands for "Associacao Portuguesa da Cortica" -- Portuguese Cork Association. It was founded in 1956 and is based in Santa Maria de Lamas, near Porto in Portugal. Its mission is to represent and promote natural cork and all products made of cork. Companies involved in the production, commerce and export of cork-based products are members of this association.