We’ve kicked around the DIAM thing a bit here, so I thought I’d post a link to a DIAM-centric tasting/seminar/marketing thing that I just came across. I think I’m going to the St. Helena one on May 3, but there’s another one in Paso.
I think I’m a DIAM believer, based on just a couple vintages, but I could stand some wider exposure.
I went. As a winetasting and lunch, it was good, but I had hoped for a little more nitty gritty on DIAM. There was some value in kibitzing over lunch with other winemakers who’ve gone with DIAM. It seems like most of the heavy hitters (I had Shafer, Phelps and Montelena at my table) are just dipping their toe in the water at this point until DIAMs have a longer track record. All seemed happy with the results so far. There seemed to be a consensus that the move to DIAM was as much about integrity of the seal and consistent OTR as it was about avoiding TCA. The winemaker for Phelps had toured the production facility and raised the point that TCA is only one of the things that is blown off in the process; reportedly, 125 different volatile compounds, including pesticides, are expelled from the cork granules. That was pretty much it for take-home nuggets.
Thanks for going to this and reporting back Stewart.
Regarding ‘until DIAMs have a longer track record’…I’ve said this elsewhere a number of times, but…Fevre has been testing/using Diam since 2002. And I can’t think of a better wine to test on than Chablis (very transparent to any problem and/or off flavor that might occur) and esp Fevre Chablis (given their premox poster child status).
Fevre did internal tests with their 2002/2003 vintages, bottling up and down their line with Diam. They then started bottling their Chablis and Petit Chablis lines with Diam in 2004. In 2007 they started bottling all their 1er cru wines as well. And in 2010 (and/or possibly 2009? not 100% clear) they starting bottling their grand cru wines. And their 2007/2008 1er cru wines (Diam) haven’t had premox problems, whereas their 07/08 Grand cru wines (Cork) have.
So, imo, Diam qualifies as having been pretty solidly tested.
I went to the one last year at Vintners Inn. Virtual who’s who in attendance. It was interesting to see who is experimenting. They are trying to make the product seem more natural looking with the printing/firebranding. I hate the idea of having to spend extra to make a cork look more like cork. I am still on the fence and have been looking more in the direction of the producers that are guaranteeing the cork quality and backing it by refunding off bottles. I know this is not an ideal situation as there is shipping costs and you have less than ideal bottles out there that don’t represent your brand properly.
Did they address the issues of how hard some of the corks are to get out of the bottles?
I remember a big discussion over which DIAM to use and how it would change perception of long time buyers and how they are used to aging wine. Any further discussion on this?
Did they do the tasting blind? That was the most interesting part of the whole event, watching the high profiles trying to avoid making calls on what they were tasting.
The tasting was blind, but it was all bottled with DIAM. I was surprised mostly that they were pouring such expensive wines, but they were selected to show well rather than to provide any comparison between DIAM and everything else.
Several wineries said they had braced for some sort of blowback from their consumers with the switch to DIAM but hadn’t heard a peep.
One point about the difficulty of extraction was that it at least doesn’t become more difficult with the longer versions. The company had done testing on that, and Montelena did some in-house experimentation that supported that conclusion. Of course, with the reliability of the seal being one of the main selling points of this sort of closure, the practical utility of paying for extra length corks is questionable. I almost get the feeling that DIAM is having to come up with ways for wineries that are so inclined to spend extra money to assuage their queasiness about the move to something new. That’s sort of been feeling about the introduction of the DIAM 30s. BTW we’ve covered this before, but it was confirmed that the OTR of the 30s is meant to be equivalent to that of the 10s – the difference is just in the predicted duration of the structural integrity of the corks.
Regarding the track record that Eric cites, I think that’s enough to establish that DIAMs can remain taint-free for years, but they may have to actually remain structurally sound for 30 years in bottles before the cab producers will commit their most age-worthy products to DIAMs.
About the choice vs natural cork, I think I’m still on the DIAM side even after the advances in TCA screening of individual corks. That still doesn’t address the issues of seal reliability and OTR consistency for natural cork. Add in the myriad other volatiles apparently present in cork, which I hadn’t previously considered, and I’m feeling a little better about the switch to DIAMs than I had before the event.
Thanks for starting this discussion, Stewart. I wish I had gone to this tasting/seminar. I started using diam-like products in 2012, made by two other cork producers I’ve worked with over the years. I’ve had great luck so far with the wines being TCA free. I’ve never heard any feedback from my customers about the difficulty in getting them out of the bottle, which is surprising. I know from my own experience, they’re really hard to take out if they’ve only been in the bottle for 6 or fewer months, and I’d say I break about 10% of the corks in half during extraction.
I committed to switching back to natural corks this year when the two companies I work with came out with their dry soak cork tests “guaranteeing” TCA free corks last year. I tried a few batches last summer, and so far, I’ve seen 3 TCA corks from those out of around 30 cases that I’ve opened. 1 cork per 10 cases is a great improvement, not perfect, but getting there.
As a consumer, I have started opening wines bottled with DIAM that have notable age. Recent experiences with 2009 Syrah and Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre blends from Steve Edmunds have been right on point where I would expect them to be at 6-7 years old based on my long experience with Steve’s wines. Given the large stash of Steve’s wines from 2009-2014 in the cellar there will be many more chances to check in.
Not a clinical trial, but a good data point for my confidence. I also have a bunch of Fevre wines in the cellar waiting for the right opportunity.
I gave them a try on my whites for 2 vintages based on the trials Roederer had done with them up here on sparkling and still wines. I have a friend who was in the lab there and every few months she would pull samples and test for free so2, DO, pH, TA, VA, ETOH, etc.
I was convinced by at the time 5+ vintages of testing. We had good luck with no bottle variation. There was not one customer who mentioned noticing or extraction force. I did see some seepage up the cork after a couple of years. They claimed to change the coating but I also wonder if it was the 45* angle on the top and bottom to make them easier to go insert on the bottling line.
Here is a thread I started a few years back. Looks like the pictures of the seepage are no there anymore.
They are still something I think about using though we have had so few issues the last couple years. In the tasting room were only seeing 1 corker about every other month or so opening about 100 bottles per month. We just did a 10 year vertical event for about 50 folks. Not a corker in the bunch. Natural corks have gotten a lot better and continue to.
I just started using Diam with my recent bottling of my 2014s. I just looked, and I don’t see any 45 degree angle to the corks. Maybe they changed to design a bit? Or maybe I’m not clear on what 45* angle you’re referring too (I assume around the top/bottom edge of the cork). I’ll keep an eye out to see if there’s any seepage up the cork…hopefully not.
I agree natural corks have gotten a lot better (or some cork brands have…some haven’t as much). I haven’t gotten many corked wines with my natural cork closed bottles…but when I do, it seems to occur in clusters.
Thanks for the report, Stewart.
I bottled my entire 2014 production under DIAM, so have a vested interest in this topic. Its too early to tell how they’re holding up, but anecdotally when hand bottling close to 300 bottles, they were more consistent in their resistance to be squished down, and more consistent sliding into the bottles. In previous vintages with natural cork, every once in a while there’d be a cork that behaved much sloppier on insertion, which didn’t fill me with confidence.
The top and bottom of the corks were chamfered at a 45* angle on the ones I got in 2010. Maybe they have changed that also to help with the seepage issues I had with them. I found one in my desk. See below.
Yep, they’ve changed the design…the top/bottom is now at right angles to the side. Sounds like it was a good move. Thanks for giving them that feedback!
I checked a couple of bottles and there’s no seepage up the sides. It’s only been a month since bottling, but I assume that sort of seepage would have occurred by now.
Question: Is there any discussion on daim about the use of microbeads? I have heard that they contain them, but that has not been confirmed.
Good to know they stopped the angle on the edges and I know they changed the coating so 2 more reasons for me to think about them again.
The DIAM10s don’t seem to have beveled ends, but I bought a few DIAM3s last Fall that seemed to have them. Maybe it varies by grade.
I just checked pricing and DIAM 10s have gone up almost 30% in the last 11 months. I had been hearing reports that demand was pretty strong, so it’s not a complete surprise, but that’s a pretty steep jump.
I was wrong here. I was comparing the price for 10,000 corks to the price for 1 bag. At 10,000, the price has been stable.
On a related note, I ran into a DIAM sales manager (Andy.Tapper@G3Enterprises.com) at Garagiste in Paso this weekend, and he told me that the branding threshold, which had been at 6000 corks, will be moving down to something more like 2500. That should help us smaller producers quite a bit.