Wine Corks

The bit of business of smelling the cork after it's been popped is becoming passé. Smelling the cork was meant as an initial impression of the wine if it had been "corked" or spoiled. You can learn a lot more just by looking at the cork.

If you pull a cork that is wrinkled or you can see the stain of wine all along the cork from top to bottom (or the cork comes out too easily), then oxygen may have entered the bottle, spoiling the wine. How do you know if it's spoiled? The wine will taste bitter or fizzy or vinegary or just plain moldy.

It is estimated that up to 5% of corks fail. When they do the wine is deemed "corked."

Wine bottles cellared for any length of time should be kept on their sides to keep the cork moist and expanded.

Lately, true corks made from the bark of trees in Spain and Portugal are being replaced by all kinds of new stoppers: synthetic corks, screw tops (called Stelvins) and more recently something called a Zork-an easy open top with a cork stub that can be stuck back in to store a bottle for drinking later.

The romance of pulling the cork and that reassuring pop may becoming extinct, but the disappointment of opening a bad bottle of wine will also become rarer.