Batavia, Illinois – October 12, 2006.  Portola expands its portfolio of closures with the addition of the ZORK® wine closure.  The ZORK® wine closure, developed by ZORK Pty Ltd in South Australia, is an alternative to traditional cork closures featuring superior aesthetics, outstanding oxygen barrier and an integral tamper-evident tear band. 

From catchy names and colorful labels, today’s wine makers want to create a unique brand to help differentiate their wines on the shelf.  The ZORK® closure does just that.  It has excellent consumer appeal because it is easy-to-open and reseal, and the bold design stands out on retail shelves.   ZORK® is available in a wide variety of colors and can be printed or de-bossed to add even further brand identity.

Looking to invigorate and expand its presence in North American, ZORK®; recently conducted a search for a domestic US manufacturer with sales and distribution capabilities.  “Portola stood out among the companies we reviewed,” says Mark McAllister, ZORK Pty Ltd CEO.  “Their expertise in manufacturing multi-component, injection-molded, tamper-evident closures was what first attracted us to Portola.  Portola’s professional R&D, technical service, marketing and sales execution sealed the deal.”

This agreement is a winning combination for the wine industry as well for ZORK® and Portola.  Portola President and CEO, Brian Bauerbach states, “The ZORK® closure is an excellent fit with our capabilities and we are very excited about the opportunity to add this innovative closure to our product offering.   We look forward to serving our new customers with this exciting product and therefore we are moving quickly and anticipate domestic production to start within six (6) months.”

The agreement gives Portola exclusive rights to manufacture and market the ZORK® closure within North America.  To expand ZORK’s appeal to US wine makers, Portola will manufacture Zork® to be compatible with a widely available bottle finish.

ABOUT PORTOLA PACKAGING, INC:
Portola Packaging is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of tamper-evident plastic closures for non-carbonated beverage products. The Company also produces a wide variety of plastic bottles for use in the dairy, water and juice industries, and is engaged in the manufacture and sale of tooling and molds used in the blow molding industry. For more information about Portola Packaging, visit the Company’s web site at www.portpack.com.

ABOUT ZORK Pty Ltd:
ZORK Pty Ltd designs, manufactures, and licenses innovative closures for the wine industry.  For more information about ZORK Pty Ltd, visit the company’s web site at: www.zork.com.au.