And the debate continues… Which is better real cork wine stoppers? plastic? Or avoid the hassle of opening up wine altogether and go with screw top. While, Wine Butler favours cork wine stoppers, we’re fascinated by the history.
The long cork stopper debate is chronicled by the Globe and Mail’s life columnist and wine enthusiast Beppi Crosariol, in an 2012 online article Ol’ fashioned wine corks make a comeback.
The debate started when environmentalists charged that cork, which is the bark of an oak species, once stripped was taking too long to regenerate. In the grand scheme of things, these trees played a vital role in the western Med neutralizing greenhouse gases. Enter plastic corks and screw tops which not only saved the forests but in the case of screw tops were far more convenient.
According to Beppi, cork’s comeback coincides with the reduction of cork taint, which is a pollutant that smells like wet cardboard and infects the wine’s flavour. While it can still be a problem it has been remarkably reduced.
Meanwhile, plastic corks have been widely disparaged because they aren’t as agile as natural cork and let in too much air. Screw caps are seen as too tight.
Beppi’s article is informative, interesting, if not entertaining. Far from being a snobby oenophile, Beppi, talks wine to everyone. Has a couple of great videos as well including one on how to remove a broken cork – which we’ve all experienced at one point in time.
The Wine Butler would like to remind all it’s customers, to always drink responsibly.
Other great Wine Butler Facebook Posts on Wine Corks:
