They’re supposed to be…I think a few winemakers on here have used them and seem to swear by them…
Bill (Nanson),
Ardea seal was not claiming to be the panacea to Premox, nor the 2nd coming of a certain carpenter.
I know people who have detected some difference in the same wine under cork and synthetic closures, tasting blind. But does anyone think this is something you want from a cork – something desirable? I don’t think so, and so far as I know, the claim that it’s good for a wine to pick up flavor from a cork was never voiced until very recently.
I believe there is research showing that the best corks allow essentially no air/oxygen through. I dimly recall this was done by the Australian wine research outfit that has done a lot of important research, particularly on closures. I think Jamie Goode may have discussed it in his writings. But I’m not sure of the source.
But, as you say, consistency is not the strong suit of natural cork.
Its called Diam Origine (beeswax).
All DIAM have some oxygen transport to start, it becomes less overt (or more hermetic) from DIAM 3 to 30, but their new ‘99.9% organic’ Origine has more - which I believe is more a function of the ‘new beeswax glue’
Karen?
Kevin,
Thanks for the reply - and the additional information. How long has Ardea been around and who else is using them? Any peer reviewed research to share with us?
There is always going to be an ‘inherent risk’ with using any closure other than natural cork - period. Doubters will always have reasons why they are ‘wrong’, etc - I see it all the time.
I am in the camp of those who believe there simply is not one perfect closure - each has its advantages and its pitfalls - period. And with variability of vintages between producers, what we often see in ‘variability’ in wines aging over time may be just as much due to that as it is the closure.
With regards to natural corks, there is no doubt that the ‘best’ corks allow in a minimal amount of oxygen over time - that is according to the landmark AWRI closure study. As you and others have pointed out, though, the variability of this closure makes it impossible to ‘guarantee’ that that amount will be ‘consistent’ across a number of corks. It just does not work that way.
I’m curious to read more about Ardea, and to continue to see the developments of DIAMs and others made in a similar manner to DIAMS (and now there are LOTS of others hitting the marketplace). Imitation is a good thing, right? We’ll see how these perform over time.
The idea that cork ‘imparts a flavor or texture’ into a wine is not something new - it does appear to be the case according to papers that have been published recently. And the fact that DIAMs do not is part of their story - the use of super critical CO2 to remove any kind of TCA also works as a solvent to remove some of the other things that would be ‘imparted’ into a final wine.
Interesting discussion - let’s keep it rolling!
It contradicts the “common knowledge” that is so often repeated, but not the actual information. Multiple studies have been done with similar results. I was wrong about months; it seems to take a couple of years to fully level off, but there is definitely not a consistent OTR the way the manufacturers of alternative closures falsely claim or imply.
http://www.portocork.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/CQC-OTR-by-Closure-Type-Summary-2017.pdf
I just read through everything I could find from DIAM on this and found no mention of what you’re talking about. They do specify an OTR, which actually contradicts the idea of mimicking cork.
From my account manager. Not sure what else to add, but that is how it is marketed.
From DIAM site: “Origine by DIAM is mainly made of naturally sourced materials and offers a slightly higher OTR rate than DIAM 10 and 30.”
Yeah, but nothing says it’s doing what cork does, and the data shows pretty clearly that it is not. It sounds like a salesperson saying what they think customers want to hear. No literature to support it even from the manufacturer.
That link I provided actually shows how different the numbers become after 2 and 3 years with natural cork vs. a manufactured closure with a consistent OTR. After 20 years that difference would be extreme.