Big Basin Vineyards, located in Boulder Creek, CA (halfway between San Francisco and Monterey) has an interesting take on how to foil a bottle of wine--don't.

Their winemaker, Bradley Brown, explains in the video below that they came to the conclusion that foils (and wax) don't serve a pragmatic purpose, that they are just a convention from the past. I don't agree completely, I think they still protect the top of the cork from dust (although Brown argues that they hide more problems than they solve), and I don't see where the line of divorcing the wine from the aethstetic package ends (OK, I do, it is the 15L wine box they serve wine out of at restaurants). But maybe not having a capsule will make a bottle stand out more on the shelf.

Watch the video and let me know what you think in our forums. And thanks to @myvinespace for the link.

VinPerfect, looking to fix the screwcap's O2 problem, has hired a new president to help raise money.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Enter Jim Olson, a Silicon Valley veteran who's just signed on to help Keller's startup company, VinPerfect Inc., raise hundreds of thousands of dollars and just maybe revolutionize the way wine bottles are sealed.

"It's an answer to prayer," Keller says of the hiring of Olson as VinPerfect's interim president.

Olson, a former CEO of SkyStream Networks, immediately will oversee a small convertible note fund-raising round set to close in a week or two. Then he'll gear up for a "Series A" round that's expected to bring in $500,000 later this year.

Faraway Farms, a winery in South Africa, has updated their packaging and their new case is a nice example of graphically incorporating a cut line for retail display. This stops the clerk at your local shop from willy-nilly cutting wherever he wants.

Full info at their blog.

Here is the pic:

UK's Department of Health performed a survey of wine labeling for alcohol and health and found that only 15% were complying with the agreed upon industry standards (that were suppose to take effect in 2008). How will this change import labeling (and how does this work with the EU "standard" labeling laws)?

Full article at the guardian.co.uk:

Drinks companies may be forced to put health warnings on alcohol after it was revealed today that the industry is widely shunning a voluntary code on labelling.

Just 15% of drinks carry the five messages agreed under a protocol between the industry and the government three years ago, which said most labels would comply by 2008, according a report by the Department of Health. Ministers condemned the findings as "very disappointing" and launched a consultation on future options, including forcing producers to put the warnings on bottles.

Campaigners accused them of wasting time and called for a mandatory code to be introduced. "The time for consultation is over," Alison Rogers, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, said. "The alcohol industry has shown that it is not capable of acting collectively for the good of public health and the code should be mandatory and strictly enforced.

WRAP, the UK's Waste and Resource Action Programme, has released their new 300g, super-lightweight wine bottle for any one to use (open source packaging?). Video and press release below. On pure looks, leaves me lacking, but you can't beat the goal of this package, reduce waste, reduce energy, reduce carbon footprint. Saving the world one bottle at a time. I hope it catches on over here in the U.S., but since the chains don't lead change, like the do in the UK, it might be hard to get producers to choose a bottle that doesn't offer them marketing potential (besides the green factor).

WRAP's full press release:

The Portugese government, through Apcor, is funding a $30+ million dollar campaing to promote cork around the world. They've seen corks closure marketshare fall over the last twenty years, assailed by syntheics and screwcaps.

More from Decanter.com

The cork industry is preparing a €20m advertising campaign using cork's 'scientific background' to convince the public of its benefits.

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--> From April 2010 to June 2011 the Portugese, via Apcor, the Portugese Cork Association, will run promotions via TV, radio, press, wine fairs and the web.

'We want to convince the public with the help of the scientific background', Jean-Marie Aracil, the French spokesman for the campaign said.

Apcor will also launch a recycling programme for cork stoppers through partnerships with restaurants, supermarkets, storage facilities and recycling plants.

Twelve million euros have been earmarked for the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the United States. Each country will run its own campaign, with the common message that cork is a traditional but innovative and sustainable industry.

Long time wine packaging pro's Dave Hammond (formerly of Encore! and others) and Neil Foster (M.A. Silva closures) have partnered up to form Vertical Glass and Packaging. Their goal is to provide superior logistics for packaging supply.

From the North Bay Business Journal:

"SANTA ROSA — North Coast vintners have a new option for purchasing bottles and packaging.

Vertical Glass & Packaging of Santa Rosa is a venture by Neil Foster, president and owner of cork distributor M.A. Silva Corks USA of Santa Rosa, and David Hammond, who has been a wine packaging marketer locally for several years and is president of Vertical.

“Today’s packaging suppliers are facing more and more challenges to meet the increasing demands of bottling operations,” Mr. Foster said.

One of the services the wine packaging startup is touting, in addition to supply parameters for high-speed lines and aesthetic quality, is just-in-time ordering from glass plants in China and North America.

“If effective delivery times change from wineries, we change accordingly,” Mr. Hammond said. “We’re manufacturing, shipping and delivering on a schedule exposed to the customer base.”

That includes a system for allowing customers to track the delivery schedule from the time of ordering until arrival at the bottling facility.

Some wineries have been adjusting their bottling schedules because of slower depletions in certain markets since economic conditions started worsening in 2008.

Wine packaging suppliers have told the Business Journal that changes in the size of orders and delivery schedule have challenged cash flow and inventory management.

Vertical Glass & Packaging has contract warehousing in Benicia for bottles and packaging materials such as boxes, partitions and recycled cardboard bottle shippers. Offices are in the M.A. Silva Corks USA facility in north Santa Rosa, but Vertical isn’t connected to that company, which distributes stoppers for M.A. Silva Corticas of Portugal."

Winebusiness.com adds some more detail:

"An Industry First: According to Hammond, his firm’s vertically integrated scheduling and delivery is an industry first. “We developed our order scheduling and logistics capabilities upon the evolving needs of wineries,” he said. “Like other industries, wine bottling has become a just-in-time operation. Inventoried glass and packaging consumes valuable warehouse space and employee attention. Our goal is to seamlessly interface our delivery with a winery’s bottling schedule, and provide error free shipping, competitive pricing and the strictest quality standards."

Wine Intelligence has a new report out on the emerging wine drinkers in China. They know that imported wines are better, but are confused about what to buy so they stick with local, inferior wines. I think there is a tremendous opportunity here to develop labels that speak to the Chinese consumer. With 80 million potential buyers by 2025, large (and even small premium wineries) should be focusing on developing Chinese specific brands for export. Labels that are a mix of classic U.S. but with very specific hooks for the Chinese.

Wine Intelligence is selling the 150 page report for £3,500.

Read the full release here: Chinese consumers “waking up” to imported wine – but find it difficult to understand.

Let's see, you are on a plane, you order the house red, you get your glass and it smells like TCA, how could that be, it came out of a little plastic bottle with a screw cap, no cork in sight. Wait, could it be coming from the plane?

Over two years in the works, Rio Tinto has finally completed the sale of the packaging portion of Alcan to Amcor.

More from The New York Times Deal Book:

"Rio Tinto said Tuesday has completed the almost $2 billion sale of some divisions of its Alcan business to Amcor, taking another step toward cutting its debt load.

The London-based mining giant announced in December it would accept Australian packaging company Amcor’s offer to buy Alcan Packaging’s pharmaceuticals, tobacco and food divisions in Europe and Asia, The Associated Press writes.

Rio Tinto has sold some $10.3 billion in assets since February 2008 to help pay off significant debt it built up buying Canadian aluminum giant Alcan for $38 billion in 2007. Selling non-core Alcan assets, such as the packaging operation, has been a key part of the debt strategy.

”The completion of this complex transaction is another significant step in the recapitalization of our balance sheet,” Rio Tinto’s chief financial officer Guy Elliott said in a statement."

How does this relate to wine packaging? Alcan, producers of Stelvin, is one of the leading wine screw cap manufacturers in the world.

Full press release from Rio Tinto:

Rio Tinto completes sale of majority of Alcan Packaging businesses to Amcor for US$1,948 million

Rio Tinto announced today that it completed the sale of Alcan Packaging global Pharmaceuticals, global Tobacco, Food Europe and Food Asia divisions to Amcor for a total consideration of US$1,948 million , on 1 February.

Guy Elliott, chief financial officer, Rio Tinto, said “The completion of this complex transaction is another significant step in the recapitalisation of our balance sheet. Since the start of 2009 we have completed divestments of US$5.6 billion despite a difficult environment created by the global financial crisis. These proceeds, together with the proceeds from our successful rights issues and strong underlying cash flows, provide us with the flexibility to pursue value adding investment opportunities as they arise.”

Rio Tinto announced on 18 August 2009 the receipt of a binding offer from Amcor for these businesses for a total consideration of US$2,025 million. Today’s completion excludes the Alcan Packaging Medical Flexibles operations in the US. The sale of these operations is the subject of an ongoing detailed market review by the US Department of Justice. The consideration has been adjusted to exclude the Medical Flexibles operations and to reflect the actual business performance over the past six months. The final consideration remains subject to certain customary post-close adjustments.

Since February 2008, Rio Tinto has announced asset sales of US$10.3 billion. In 2008, Rio Tinto completed divestments totalling US$3.1 billion. In 2009, Rio Tinto agreed asset sales of US$7.2 billion and completed US$3.6 billion of these. Completed transactions in 2009 include Ningxia (aluminium), Potasio Rio Colorado (potash), Corumbá (iron ore), Jacobs Ranch (coal), Alcan Composites and the Cloud Peak IPO.

Agreed sales yet to complete include Alcan Packaging Food Americas and Maules Creek (Coal & Allied).

Closing consideration represents the initial $2,025 million consideration reduced for the deferred sale of the Medical Flexible business ($65 million), increased for the EBITDA adjustment ($65 million) and reduced for other transaction adjustments, mainly working capital ($77 million).

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.