Well what do you know? An international survey of wine drinkers commissioned by the Portuguese Cork Association (APCOR), showed that 75 per cent of them expressed a preference for natural cork. According to Weber Shandwick, the PR agency acting for APCOR, 'just nine per cent [voted] for plastic stoppers. The preference was strongest in the US at 81 per cent, with 73 and 72 per cent respectively for the UK and Australia.'
Frankly, I'm amazed that the proportions of respondents expressing a preference for real cork in a questionnaire commissioned by their producers were as low as they are. I would have thought that almost everyone would say that in an ideal world, yes they would prefer real cork. To me it's a measure of how widely disseminated the message about cork taint is in Australia and Britain that almost 30 per cent of respondents in each country said they did NOT prefer real cork.
But the cork producers are delighted, as the report on the research suggests. 'Indeed, the presence of a real cork in the bottle is seen as an indication of the quality of a wine. A total of 69 per cent of wine drinkers believe that a real cork is a sign of a quality wine – rising as high as 83 per cent in the US and 79 per cent in Australia. At the opposite end of the spectrum, six out of ten drinkers believe that plastic stoppers have connotations of "cheapness" and one in two believe they suggest a wine is of a lower quality.'
'In perhaps the most surprising revelation, the "type of closure" was ranked as the fourth most important factor in wine choice with 26 per cent of respondents claiming it was a "very important factor". While less important than previous experience (70 per cent), style of wine (53 per cent) and friends' recommendations (30 per cent) it is more influential than the origin (22 per cent), price (22 per cent), special offers (21 per cent) or label information (14 per cent). The type of closure is even considered more important than the brand name (21 per cent), look of the bottle (5 per cent), advertising (2 per cent) and recommendations of writers (10 per cent) [oh dear!].'
'Consequently, 57 per cent of drinkers want to have information on the type of stoppers in their wine available when they are buying it. And over half of those who prefer natural cork expressed "anger" or "disappointment" at the insistence of some supermarkets on plastic closures for their wine.'
'On the issue of wine quality, only 21 per cent of wine drinkers who have had a bottle of wine that was off believe it was because of problems with the cork. Indeed, the majority of respondents identified cork's ability to crumble as its "worst thing" (58 per cent). Only nine per cent thought it was that it might "allow spoil".'
This research was commissioned by APCOR and took place between 16 and 31 January 2002. The survey sample consisted of regular wine drinkers, split evenly by frequency of drinking/purchasing across three countries: USA (180), UK (180) and Australia (181).
APCOR's mission, I am told, is to represent and promote the development of all companies involved in the production, commerce and export of cork-based products. Representing the majority of the Portuguese cork industry, APCOR has a membership of nearly 250 companies, accounting for approximately 75 per cent of the total national production and 80 per cent of all cork exports.
For further information from the natural cork brigade:
Cork Information Bureau (UK)
Fenella Grey, Weber Shandwick (tel 020 7841 5487 email fgrey@webershandwick.com)
Or visit www.corkmasters.com/resources/cib.stm
A site which takes rather the opposite view is www.corkwatch.com
See correspondence on this topic in your turn on purple pages.