Aluminum screw cap closures for wine bottles are expanding worldwide, yet some countries have lower adoption rates than others. Top users are New Zealand, with 99% of wines sealed with screw caps, and Australia, with 80%.

The world’s largest manufacturer of aluminum closures, the Guala Closures Group, is working hard to promote the obvious benefits of aluminium screw caps for the wine industry. Regions with a long history in wine, like Europe and North America, have a traditional preference for cork. However, times are changing, and screw cap closures align with the active lifestyle of younger consumers who appreciate their convenience and functionality. These consumers are less enamored with wine traditions. They are also ever vigilant about sustainability claims when choosing wines, which makes 100% recyclable and reusable aluminum attractive. Screw cap closures also allow for moderation, a key trend in today’s culture, where sharing a glass and saving the rest for later is easier.

Guala Closures Group is at the forefront of these trends, with over 30 production sites around the world. Specifically in New Zealand, Guala supported the local wine industry and took a unique approach to the role of screw caps when a group of forward-thinking winemakers formed the Screwcap Wine Seal Initiative in 2001. The catalysts were challenges with sustainability, which wasn’t a word at the time, and cork taint. The  Screwcap Initiative research found that screw caps provided a better seal, prevented oxygen transfer, and kept wines fresher and more consistent for longer. In just three years, the entire wine industry in New Zealand has zero to 40-50% screw cap. Today, 99% of New Zealand wines use aluminium screw cap closure.

“In 2005, Guala Closures invested significantly in New Zealand so the local wine industry could consider innovation and forward thinking closure alternatives. New Zealand prides itself on being an  early adopter,” says Dave Campbell, General Manager of Guala Closures Group in North America, and himself a Kiwi. “Twenty years ago, we were saying the same things that Americans are saying now regarding aluminium closures, but we adopted the benefits of screw caps really quickly  and decided that, from a sustainable winemaking  perspective, screw cap closures simply made sense in the modern world.”

The US wine industry has been slower in its move to aluminium screw caps, partly due to the lingering consumer perception that closure type denotes quality and partly due to the winery concern that they should only use them for less expensive wines. The change is happening, with over one-third of the industry now using this style of closure. The Guala Closure Group, as a world leader in aluminium closure production continues to invest locally in the region and provide innovative and sustainable closure solutions to the US wine industry to meet the needs of the modern and everchanging wine consumer. 

To learn more about how aluminium screw cap closures can work for you, visit the Guala Closure Group booth at 816 at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium.