Closure is a term used in the wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 industry to refer to a stopper, the object used to seal a bottle and avoid harmful contact between the wine and oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

.

They include:

• Traditional natural cork
  Cork (material)
  Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
  
   closures ('corks');
• alternative wine closures
  Alternative wine closures
  Alternative wine closures are substitute closures used in the wine industry for sealing wine bottles in place of traditional cork closures. The emergence of these alternatives has grown in response to quality control efforts by winemakers to protect against "cork taint" caused by the presence of...
  
  , such as screw caps, synthetic closures, glass closures.
• Historical applications no longer in use, such as wooden stoppers with cloth or wax

The choice of closure depends on issues such as the risk of cork taint

Cork taint

Cork taint is a broad term referring to a wine fault characterized by a set of undesirable smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine, especially spoilage that can only be detected after bottling, aging and opening...

, oxygen permeability and desired life of the wine. Another factor is consumer reaction, with the wine-buying public in Australia and New Zealand positive to alternative closures, while opinion is divided among consumers of the United States. In Europe, perceptions that associate screw caps with low-quality wine may be declining.

External links

• The Oeneo Closures Debate 2006 with Peter Ferriera, John Forrest, Peter Godden, Terry Lee and Jamie Goode