A dry cleaner and a firm that makes capsules and screw caps for wine bottles have one thing in common. To both, wrinkles are a bad thing.

Local manufacturer Alcan Packaging Capsules of California is quite familiar with the need for a smooth-fitting closure. Alcan makes capsules and screw caps for wine bottles, one of the few such manufacturers in Napa County.

Once scorned for being a cheap closure used only for cheap wine, screw caps are getting a closer look from premium winemakers today, to the delight of Alcan. Screw caps present no risk of cork taint, and some vintners believe they do a good job of preserving the flavors in bottles of wine that have been opened.

At the south county plant, Alcan produces enclosures such as tin capsules used to encase corks and synthetic corks for still wines, a polylaminate aluminum capsule and a foil capsule for sparkling wine.

“We are the only tin closure manufacturer in the U.S.,” said Alcan General Manager Frederic Catteau.

Locals may remember the business originally known as Cork and Seal of California, and then Pechiney Cork and Seal, before Alcan acquired it in 2005.

Alcan, based in Montreal, currently produces its Stelvin brand screw caps in France, Australia, Canada and Chile. However, in 2008, the local plant will begin production of the Stelvin screw cap. To do so, it will add 10,000 square feet to its current 30,000-square-foot plant, where 22 people are now employed. The 2008 project represents a $2 million investment.

According to Catteau, just 2.6 percent of wine produced in the U.S. uses screw caps. But Alcan sees that as more of an opportunity than a limitation.

“We doubled screw cap sales in the last three years,” he noted.

“We have captured more than 50 percent of the screw cap market in the U.S. for wine,” said Catteau. “If we go from 2.6 percent to 10 percent, we’d be very busy.”

With 3 billion bottles of wine sold in the United States each year, that’s a whole lot of bottles to cap.

At the same time, Catteau acknowledged hurdles to overcome.

“There is still a stigma of screw caps,” said Catteau. “But change is coming slowly, when you see some key names moving to a screw cap.”

With some estimates that one out of every 12 bottles with corks are “tainted,” that is, contaminated by the compound trichloroanisole, or TCA, screw caps are considered a strong alternative to traditional cork.

According to Catteau, smaller producers have been the first to switch.

“They test the waters,” Catteau wrote in an e-mail. “They are waiting for high-end key names to switch and then the bigger wineries will follow. It is just a matter of waiting for the most opportune moment in the market to switch. The bigger wineries are waiting to jump in.”

Alcan customers who use screw caps include Boisset Family Estates, Provenance Vineyards, Turnbull Wine Cellars, Fetzer Vineyards, Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, Rudd Winery and Vineyards, Diageo and Kendall Jackson Vineyard Estate.

Eighty-five percent of Alcan screw cap users in the U.S. use screw caps on white wine only, he said.

White wines are consumed more quickly after bottling than reds — which are often aged for years before consumption— and the jury is still out among makers of red wine about how well bottles of wine sealed with screw caps will age.

But red wine producers are coming around, Catteau said. “Slowly they are switching to using screw caps on red wine.”

Inside job

Inside, the production half of the Alcan American Canyon plant looks and smells more like a paint shop than a corner of the wine business. The capsules are formed on die-like machinery, but much of the work involves the spray-painting and embossing the closures themselves.

Catteau said there are several differences between the U.S. and customers elsewhere.

“Americans are more particular about production,” said Catteau. “The packaging is so important. When we do a color match, the clients come here. They want to see colors and samples.”

Quality control concerns include getting the color, design — and fit on the bottle — just right.

“A quarter of a millimeter makes all the difference in this business,” he noted. Any discrepancy can lead to the dreaded wrinkles.

Alcan is clearly looking to make a dent in the traditional cork closure market.

“There is room for many different kinds of packaging,” noted Catteau.

“Think about the new generation,” said Catteau. He pointed out avant garde bottle shapes that are square, or feature mod label designs.

“They are not tied as closely to the French tradition,” he said.