Scott Laboratories is known for the high-quality cork it has supplied to high-end, exclusive wineries since the 1970s. As the leading supplier of packaging, equipment, filtration and fermentation products for the North American wine industry, its mission is to deliver best-in-class products and services to its customers.
Three years ago, their search for excellence led them to Amcor, whose global leadership in developing and producing high-quality, responsible packaging is unparalleled.
“Our customers demand the best,” says Chris Holman, General Manager of Scott Labs’ Cork & Packaging Department, “and our goal is to bring them the best of the best. We vet our suppliers at length to ensure those expectations are met. The Amcor brand is synonymous with quality, and we’re proud to provide its products to our customers.”
High quality cork deserves high quality tin overcaps, thus resulting in a successful partnership early on between Scott Labs and Amcor Capsules. As screw cap adoption began to grow in the North American market, Scott Labs saw this as an opportunity to expand their portfolio to continue providing the best closures available for their customers. With STELVIN® being the market leader, it was a logical transition for Scott Labs to begin offering Amcor’s STELVIN® line of stock and custom screw caps to the US market.
“Being a non-exclusive distributor of STELVIN® screw caps and the exclusive distributor of tin distinguishes Scott Labs from its competitors,” says Frederic Catteau, Director of Amcor Capsules North America. “They are also the specialists in closures in the glass industry. They know cork, and they know how to transition to screw caps.”
“Our sole focus is to offer our customers a selection of the finest products and help them if they have questions on the best choice for their wines,” adds Holman.
Amcor developed the STELVIN® screw cap in 1964 to solve Swiss winemakers’ need for tighter closures to address white wine’s sensitivity to oxidation. Wine producers soon found that the new closures offered a cure for cork taint and delivered greater consistency from bottle to bottle. Consumers discovered that STELVIN® closures made bottles easy to store and transport for on-the-go consumption while retaining the wine’s aroma, flavor and freshness when repeatedly opened and closed.
“In 2005,” says Catteau, “we were selling less than a million screw caps in North America, and then the market exploded. Today wine is 25-30% screw cap, easily 800 million units.”
Amcor also offers STELVIN®P liners for lightly sparkling wines, STELVIN®Inside technology to control the rate of oxygen ingress (OTR) into wines and premium STELVIN®LUX closures with a smooth exterior and sleeker appearance. Its high-quality, in-house laser engraving technology for intricate and detailed custom decoration is available for lots as small as a single box of 1350 closures. Endless design possibilities can be achieved under the watchful eye of Amcor’s fully integrated printing process, ensuring control of all quality points in the production and decoration of STELVIN® closures from start to finish.
With local production and color matching in American Canyon, CA and on-site technical field service available throughout the US, Scott Labs and Amcor can support the closure requirements for wineries of all sizes and portfolios.
