ACG - Global upward trend of aluminium closures used for still wines continues

Screw caps as closures for wines are on the rise – during the recent Mundus Vini* 2019 summer tasting, where 170 wine experts from 45 countries blind taste wines from all over the world, award-winning wines using aluminium closures accounted for 23% of the total (397 of 1737 medal winners) compared to 20% in 2018 (344 of 1730.) – that is an increase of 15%.

Still wines overall accounted for 1551 winners (2018:1572) of which 25% were sealed using aluminium closures, recording yet another double-digit (13%) increase. In the Gold Medal category the number awarded to still wines increased year on year by 42% and aluminium closures stayed right on track with a 42% increase while also increasing its share of the medals. Altogether the number of Gold Medals awarded to still wines with aluminium screw caps reached 166, or 23% of the total.

In the so-called ‘new world’, modern wine growing markets such as Australia, Austria, Germany and New Zealand the screw cap is clearly king. Also these wines tend to favour this style of closure independent of the price category for quality, safety and convenience reasons. As these countries’ market share has increased dramatically since the beginning of the 21^st Century, so the amount of aluminium closures in use have risen accordingly.

Significantly, in traditional markets such as Italy, France and Spain, where screw cap closures are usually less well represented, the number of medals awarded increased, from 36 to 65, year on year, with award winning wines from both Italy and Spain using aluminium closures more than doubling.

Recent figures released from all Meininger wine tasting events across a period of 2009 to 2018, show that aluminium closures for both still white and rosé wines now account for more than 50% of all closures used across these categories. For red wines the aluminium closure is the second most popular closure of choice with 18%, while traditional closures continue to be predominant, particularly in France, Italy and Spain.

The data also shows that in the last decade, globally, the percentage of wines using aluminium closures has increased from 19 to 34%. Meininger tasting events normally account for more than 30,000 individual wines from all origins and of all qualities each year.

“We are seeing aluminium wine closures making excellent progress across all market segments – including being increasingly used for high-quality wines,” said Marika Knorr, Deputy Executive Director of the Aluminium Closures Group. “The momentum for screw caps is clearly demonstrated by the results of Mundus Vini and other tastings. Premiumization is a big trend amongst wines and the aluminium closure is the perfect fit. We believe this modern, convenient and recyclable closure, which does not affect the contents of the bottle in any way, will be the closure of choice for the future.”

^* MUNDUS VINI was founded by Meininger Verlag 18 years ago and has been one of the most important wine competitions in the world. Everywhere in the world, wines are found in the trade and gastronomy, which have been awarded by MUNDUS VINI. The target of the competition is to promote quality and the marketing of the wines entered.