Concours Mondial de Bruxelles/Amorim: cork sets the trend

In conjunction with cork manufacturer Amorim, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles introduced a monitoring system for closures and cork taint. Out of 6,511 wine entries this year, the vast majority had traditional cork closures (4,510), 818 had cork-based closures (multi-piece), 655 a synthetic closure and 395 a screwcap. Natural cork closures showed no change compared with rival closures whilst screwcaps stole a march on synthetic corks.

With regard to cork taint, of the 166 wines rejected by tasters, 74 were identified as having cork taint. For the first time in the competition’s history, however, this is no longer the primary fault. It now takes a back seat to Brettanomyces (stable smells), oxidation and cloudy or turbid wines. Wines with cork taint account for around 1 percent of entries, on par with previous observations and studies.