Vinocor
is fully committed to the concept of “Total Quality”.
This concept means one simple thing: we will be
the best if we are excellent in EVERY step of the cork production
process.
With this in mind, there isn't a phase of cork production
that Vinocor hasn't improved or re-invented in the last
few years.
Below we list just some of the most prominent examples of
this policy.
Raw
Material
Active Aqueous Extraction (XTRAX)
Boiling
Washing Process
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Vinocor Production in Napa, California
Raw Material
Several measures were studied and implemented
to assure that cork bark is always under Vinocor control
even before being stripped from the trees. |
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A prospecting
team continuously monitors the forest, pulling samples and
performing QC tests – including GCMS analysis on bark
samples |
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Vinocor
no longer uses intermediaries. Raw materials are procured
from the growers based on QC recommendations of the prospecting
team. |
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The company owns 5,000 hectares of cork forest, enough for 9% of the raw material
needs. |
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No storage
is made in the forest, upon harvest all cork bark is immediately
transferred to Vinocor. |
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Every cork
bark lot is individually identified assuring full traceability.
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It is said that we cannot produce good wine with
bad fruit. We can only produce good corks from good cork
bark.
Active Aqueous Extraction (XTRAX) Boiling
 
The ideal would be only to
use cork bark with no TCA or other contaminants. But even
with all the care we have, this is still not possible.
It took three years if design and development and one year of industrial size trials, then Vinocor in early 2003, declared our AAE boiling system to be fully operational.
This exclusive boiling system assures: |
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Unmatched
removal of contaminants (like TCA) and cork disinfection
through a continuous water cleaning process during the boiling
cycle. |
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Use of water
pressure to maximize water extraction capabilities. |
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No damage
to the mechanical characteristics of the cork. |
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Through
the continuous water cleaning process, at any given time
in the boiling cycle, only clean water exists inside the
boiling tank. |
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Today the XTRAX
consistently extracts at least 98% of all volatiles contained
in the cork.
Washing Process
Some believe that the
washing system can be the silver bullet capable of curing
a bad cork. Vinocor does not believe in silver bullets!
But Vinocor believes
that if we improve every step in the cork production process,
we will raise the quality of our corks. So a new washing
system was commissioned 18 months ago, a new washing system
that provided us with:
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A drastic
reduction of undesirable taste promoting agents, like tannins.
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A direct
chemical attack on volatiles like TCA. |
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A much stricter
control of the residual oxidants lefts in the corks after
the washing process. |
| An improved
Wash equals a Clean and Clear Cork.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
All of the above improvements,
and everything else in Vinocor, is brought together to achieve
our concept of “Total Quality”. The word Total
sets the basic ideas of our TQM management model:
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Vinocor Production in Napa, California
Vinocor’s “Total
Quality” means we will be the best if we are
excellent in EVERY step of the cork production process –
the cork production process does not end in Portugal.
It ends when Vinocor employees in Napa, CA, print, coat
and package the corks every American winemaker wants - the
only “Total Quality” corks.
 Vinocor
USA, since its creation in 2001, continues to evolve. Every
year something newer, bigger, and better happens. Just a
few days ago we increased our facility to meet the market’s
stock needs. At the same time we are studying different
alternatives to increase the current production rate of
650,000 corks/shift to at least 1 million corks/shift. Because
the production process is made up of several steps, the
production increase will be made in stages. The first one
will happen in January, 2006, increasing the total capacity
of our printing area.
We have a very experienced
team that has grown with the company. You are welcome to
visit us and meet the people that make your corks come true.
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