With ALKOvin active, the product Meyer Seals introduces in its latest Innovation Spotlight, the company says that it has provided the wine market with the perfect cap liner for aluminium screw cap closure.
“Managing to deliver optimal aroma and taste to the consumer of wine, closed with a screw cap was the goal of this development,” says Dr Rainer Kroeger, R&D Director at Meyer Seals – the world’s leading manufacturer of wine screw cap liners based in Alfeld (Leine), Germany. The fruit of this after nearly nine years of effort is the ALKOvin™ active Liner with acceptor technology.
The introduction of aluminium screw caps for closing wine bottles in the late 1960s was revolutionary, and instantly offered wine consumers the convenience to open and reseal their wine alongside reducing wine faults of oxidation and cork taint.
Wine experts and connoisseurs know that the choice of the bottle closure and the sealing liner/wad are imperative for the quality of the wine, influencing both its oxidative and reductive ageing characters.
To protect the wine and preserve its fresh, fruity aromas, the ideal screw cap closure must be equipped with a sealing liner/wad that is able to offer the highest oxygen barrier performance. However, the choice of such low Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR) liner can lead to the development of reductive attributes in the wine post-bottling, through the formation of volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) associated with reductive notes, known as "post-bottling off-flavours".
ALKOvin™ active is an innovative PVC/PVDC-free sealing liner, which manages post-bottling reductive notes, while offering excellent oxygen barrier performance. With its unique acceptor layer, the ALKOvin™ active liner binds and deactivates the volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) responsible for undesirable odours, thus preserving the wine’s precious aroma.
The ALKOvin™ active liner has been tested by the renowned AWRI “Australian Wine Research Institute”, and all tests conducted so far (over 36 months now) confirm that ALKOvin™ active liner can reduce and prevent the formation of volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs), while offering excellent oxygen barrier performance (OTR ≈ 0.0 mg O2/yr) similar to the traditional TIN-Saran liner. Furthermore, the innovative liner does not have any effect on varietal thiol compounds –meaning it does not scavenge desirable thiol compounds from wine during bottling ageing and does not have any impact on free and total sulphur dioxide concentration. The full AWRI report is available upon request.
Harald Hexamer, proprietor of renowned winery Weingut Hexamer, Germany confirms the essential performance of ALKOvin™ active:
“I have been using ALKOvin™ active liners for more than two years now and I am very pleased and excited about the result. I hand-harvest my grapes and produce quality wines; preserving the taste and precious wine aroma is of utmost importance to me. With ALKOvin™ active liner’s security, I do not have to worry anymore about reductive notes and flavours after bottling; I feel assured that my wine will arrive with the consumer with optimal aroma and taste.”
According to Nishan Goenka, Global Sales & Marketing Director at Meyer Seals: “After having worked on this project for almost nine years including several trials and tests with wine institutes and vineyards, there is clear evidence from the industry to prove and support the view that ALKOvin™ active is the long-awaited, next-generation sealing liner, destined to cement its place under a screw cap. This is the best insurance for your wine under a screw cap!”
Click here to learn more about ALKOvin™ active
For further information, please contact
Vasileios Sakalis
International Key Account Manager at Meyer Seals®
Mobile: + 49 (0)176 12 801 832
Email: sakalis@meyer-seals.com
This content is sponsored by Meyer Seals®.
