Wine capsules, the eternal unknown

By Nagore Basabe, Commercial and Marketing Director at Grupo Ramondin

I started working at Grupo Ramondin on 1st October, 2020 as CMO. I’ve always been attracted to the wine world on a personal level.

However, it wasn’t until leaving Procter and Gamble that I considered the world of Wine & Spirits at a profesional level.

Ramondin is a world leader in capsule manufacturing. Also it is the only global manufaturer with 100% Spanish capital  with its headquarters in the heart of Rioja, specifically in Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa).

Up to this point all is clear, right? ok, but what exactly is a wine capsule and what does it work for?

Is it a tap? NO.

Is it a cork? NO.

Mmmm, is it the thing that covers the cork? YES.

Wine capsules are one of those products that everybody uses, but go unnoticed, eventhough it is the first real contact between the consumer and the wine bottle as you need to take it out in order to open it.

Are all wine capsules the same? NO!

¿what factors are taken into consideration when choosing a capsule? ¿Do they have to be from a specific material?

The key factor when deciding which capsule to use is the positionning of the wine.

For premuim brands, the favorite option is Tin. The tin capsule is one piece and gives a more seamless look and is the only capsule that is malleable enough to adapt to every kind of bottle.

It dresses the bottle and the tact is unique. Tin is also 100% sustainable as it can be recycled and the inks are water based.

In Protos, the Protos 27 capsule is an example of Tin capsule.

For lower priced wines, the most used option is a capsule that combines aluminum & polyethylene.

These capsules have 2 pieces, the head and sides that are put together during manufacturing.

For this segment, there needed to be an altertative to  plastic, and this is why Ramondin, launche din 2019 the e-cap, the first and only 2 piece capsule 100% free of plastic and it is already well implemented in the wine industry.

What exactly does a capsule do?

Well there are few things:

1. Warranty: the capsule is a warranty for the consumer that the wine bottle has not been tampered with.
2. Image: it is a design element within the bottle and therefore can transmit the image that the winery wants to portray.
3. Hygene: the capsule protects the bottle head and cork from dust, dryness and decay.
4. Traceability: it cannot be falsified.

But most of all, we cannot ignore the role it plays in the ceremony that is opening a bottle of wine. The wine, in the end, is all about the senses.

You buy it for pleasure and you drink it for pleasure. When opening a bottle of wine, there is a physical contact, and the sensation that the capsule gives you when you are opening the bottle is key: the way the capsule hugs the bottle, the tact, how you rip it out…

And until here I can read 😊. I doubt you’ll se a capsule the same way ever again.