Nomacorc to supply leading Chinese winery

ZEBULON, N.C. (Oct. 22, 12:05 p.m. ET) -- American polyethylene wine cork maker Nomacorc LLC said Oct. 18 it has signed a technology development and supply agreement with the maker of one of China’s leading wine brands, Great Wall.

Nomacorc, based in Zebulon, N.C., said it will work with Beijing-based COFCO Wine & Spirits Co. Ltd. in Nomacorc’s global oxygen management research program. COFCO will perform studies on the role of oxygen in China’s grape wine-making process.

Nomacorc also said it will be supplying COFCO wineries with its co-extruded synthetic closures.

“This partnership can generate significant findings unique to winemaking in China,” said Michael Yi, general manager of Nomacorc in China, in a statement. “Right now, there is a huge emphasis on China’s emerging role in the global wine industry.”

Nomacorc maintains a small factory in Yantai, Shandong province, in China’s wine making region. China’s wine market lags the world wine industries in use of synthetic corks like those made by Nomacorc.

“We hope to acquire key insights about winemaking in China and are committed to being a first-class supplier to COFCO in the areas of product performance, quality and delivery,” said Nagib Nasr, vice president of global operations and business development at Nomacorc.

COFCO’s Great Wall brand is one of China’s best known wines and sold about 150 million bottles in 2009. Nomacorc makes about 2 billion synthetic corks a year and has factories in the United States, Belgium, Austria and China.