Cork on red wine bottle Le vieux pin
Wine corks can be made of either a single piece of cork, or composed of particles, as in champagne corks; corks made of granular particles are called "agglomerated corks". Natural cork closures are used for about 80% of the 20 billion bottles of wine produced each year. After a decline in use as wine-stoppers due to the increase in the use of cheaper synthetic alternatives, cork wine-stoppers are making a comeback and currently represent approximately 60% of wine-stoppers today. Because of the cellular structure of cork, it is easily compressed upon insertion into a bottle and will expand to form a tight seal. The interior diameter of the neck of glass bottles tends to be inconsistent, making this ability to seal through variable contraction and expansion an important attribute. However, unavoidable natural flaws, channels, and cracks in the bark make the cork itself highly inconsistent. In a 2005 closure study, 45% of corks showed gas leakage during pressure testing both from the sides of the cork as well as through the cork body itself. Since the mid-1990s, a number of wine brands have switched to alternative wine closures such as synthetic plastic stoppers, screw caps, or other closures. In some countries, screw caps are often seen as a cheap alternative destined only for the low grade wines; however, in Australia, for example, much of the non-sparkling wine production now uses these caps as a cork alternative, although some have recently switched back to cork citing issues using screw caps. These alternatives to real cork have both advantageous and controversial properties. For example, while screwtops are generally considered to offer a trichloroanisole (TCA) free seal, it is possible to find TCA contamination in a screw cap bottle. Natural cork stoppers are important because they allow oxygen to interact with wine for proper aging, and are best suited for wines purchased with the intent to age.
Size: 5760px × 3840px
Location: table Dinner party
Photo credit: © DV Oenology / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 120172_ray, alcohol, bottle, bottles, bouchon, celebration, cork, corkage, corked, le, liège, neck, party, pin, red, rouge, special, stop, tanic, tanin, tannic, tasting, vieux, vin, vintage, wine, winetasting
