Wednesday, February 24, 2010

On Wine Closures: Guala Seal

It appears there's another new alternative closure solution on the market, at least one that's new to me: the AS Elite, produced by a company called Guala Seal (also known as Ardea Seal). According to its manufacturers, the AS Elite is "probably the best stopper in the world." While that remains to be seen, I will say that it does seem to present some potential advances over other plastic/polymer type closures.


Shorter than a good quality traditional cork, the Guala Seal is tapered at its business end and is smooth enough to allow for fairly intricate print/logo detailing. An injection molded "shield" made of an inert polypropylene compound fits over the tapered end of the cork. Frankly, it looks like someone's put a little condom over the tip of the cork. Though not the most aesthetically pleasing device, in practice it's meant to keep the wine free from direct contact with the main plastic/elastomer component of the stopper and thus keep the wine free from plastic tainted flavors.


The other advance claimed by the Guala Seal's manufacturer is the use of a rigid polypropylene "chassis" that serves as a frame around which the thermoplastic elastomer bulk of the stopper can be formed. In addition to serving as a guide for the corkscrew, this frame prevents the stopper from elongating or stretching, both over time and when compressed for insertion into the bottle. Again in theory, this should help to provide a better contact seal with the neck of the bottle and to prevent oxidation, something that's been a frequent problem with earlier generations of synthetic stoppers.

I was recently surprised to find a Guala Seal stopping up a bottle of Burgundy, not a Passetoutgrain, mind you, but a $30ish sub-regional red Burg from a reputable estate-based producer in the Côtes de Nuits. I've never known this producer to utilize any type of non-cork closure in the past and was a bit perplexed that they chose a mid-level rather than entry-level wine for its introduction.

In summary, I'm less than thrilled with the look and feel of the AS Elite. I've never particularly liked the aesthetics (or performance, for that matter) of any of the plastic/elastomer family of stoppers, but this somehow manages to look even more artificial. From a performance perspective, though, I'll try to keep an open mind and will be curious to see how the Guala Seal stands the test of time.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

As always with these seals, the bottle neck must be symmetrical lest the plastic doesn't expand to fit snugly.

http://abebedorespgondufo.blogs.sapo.pt/ said...

Good.

Marcus said...

Nice timing. I'm posting on my first encounter with these corks in a couple days at http://181days.tumblr.com/post/407174461/february-27 (link to entry not working yet till then). I can say I sure got a kick out of the design, but then the context was different. My Guala Seal wasn't in a Burg, but a Ligurg (yeah, that's right a Ligurian wine, you heard me). It was also in my first-ever Ligurian wine on my first evening in Italy - first hour actually - and I just went out to the pizzeria and stopped at the Eurodrink on my way back to the hotel to eat dinner and drink some Dolcetto. When I removed the capsule, the non-business end resembled a tiny pizza (business end was identical to yours). Surely your aesthetic judgment would've changed if you had been there with me to behold and inspect it, and then eat fresh Genoese pizza. Here: take a look. Bravo Guala, Bravo!

David McDuff said...

Anon,
Very good point, though I wonder how much of an issue asymmetry is given modern glass production methods. Do you know of any statistics or studies that suggest it's still a prevalent issue?

Marcus,
The insert-corkscrew-here-end of the stopper in my bottle was identical in appearance to yours, just with a slightly darker shade of red. That bullseye, I believe is the upper edge of the structure of the "chassis" that keeps the cork from stretching and prevents the corkscrew from going awry.

I'm not sure my aesthetic appreciation of the stopper itself would have been any greater in the scenario you describe, though I definitely may have found it more humorous given its resemblance to the pizza.

Do Bianchi said...

wow, I'm really feeling like I need some closure...

great post, McDuff... it's one of those reasons wine blogging is so cool: it's a way for all of us to stay informed on what's going in our industry...

good stuff... (even if the closure may not stand the test of time...)

David McDuff said...

Always glad to be of service, Jeremy.

ben wood said...

McDuff-
Great post! I love alternate closure's for bottles, especially ones designed to be drunk up young . . .they cost less (usually, not alwaysa) and work pretty well. Still there is the romance of poping a real cork, I suppose.
Cheers,
Ben

David McDuff said...

Hey Ben,
The romantic association with cork pulling is exactly the problem, here. I think producers that opt for synthetic stoppers such as the Guala Seal are trying to preserve the ritual pulling of the cork. While I've been very happy with the DIAM as a short- to mid-term seal, I'm much less so with the various elastomer stoppers on the market, as I've seen them cause widespread problems with both oxidation and plastic-y flavors. As I mentioned in this post, I'm willing to reserve judgment on the Guala. In general, though, I'd much rather see producers dispense with the in-neck "tradition" and opt for a screw cap.

Marcus said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marcus said...

Hi David - This is the new link to my encounter with these corks in Italy: 181 days (Day 61). Sorry that the previous ones don't work.

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