The ground-breaking Helix™ wine bottle and closure system - developed by Amorim and O-I - has been adopted by Bronco Wine Company’s Great American Wine Company (GAWC) for its California wines.
Market data consistently confirms consumers’ marked preference for natural cork stoppers, due to their superior sealing qualities and unbeatable sustainability credentials.
Consumers also value resealability and ease-of-use. This is where the twist-and-pop Helix™ comes into its own. It offers all the advantages of cork - including the hallmark “popping” sound when the cork is removed - but dispenses with the need for a corkscrew.
“The Helix Packaging concept is brilliant and paired with The Great American Wine Company brand should develop into a powerful programme for each of our companies,” enthused Fred Franzia, CEO founder of Bronco Wine Company.
“Knowing and understanding the importance of tradition, it just makes sense for the Great American Wine Company and Helix to be paired together,” added Franzia. “Made of natural and sustainable cork, Helix is the most innovative 21st century closure. It addresses our customer’s need for convenience with the resealable, easy to twist-off cork, while preserving the elements synonymous with opening a wine bottle, like the premium feel and ‘pop’ the cork makes.”
The family-owned Bronco Wine Company founded in 1973, by Fred T., Joseph S. and John Franzia is fifth largest winery in the United States and the largest vineyard owner in the US. Its diverse family of brands is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
In 2016 the Bronco Wine Company adopted Helix™ for its Red Truck® brand and has now extended its use of the solution with The Great American Wine Company.
Helix is consolidating its roll-out throughout the global wine market. Recent examples include wines sealed with this solution sold by the UK’s oldest wine merchant, Berry Bros. & Rudd and by UK retail chain, the Co-op.
Market research indicates that Helix reinforces consumer interest in cork-sealed wines, in part because cork’s pleasing ‘pop’ sound, is far more appealing than the metallic click of a screwcap, as confirmed by a 2017 Oxford University study.
Pedro Fernandes, GM of Napa-based Amorim Cork America, commented: “We are thrilled to be able to partner with Bronco and O-I to supply the US market with the innovative Helix, the only premium wine packaging solution delivering both convenience and sustainability”.
Santiago Castrillon, O-I General Manager, Americas North Wine & Spirits Business Unit, echoed this sentiment: “The spirit of the Great American Wine Company aligns fully with the innovation of Helix and beauty and purity of glass packaging. We are proud to partner with two great companies - Bronco and Amorim - on this excellent endeavour”.
Hailed as one of the greatest wine packaging innovations of the twenty-first century, Helix is already available across four continents, with more than two dozen brands using this pioneering product - in the UK, US, South Africa, France, Italy, Austria, Portugal and Spain.