It is now very rare to find the total use of natural cork to stop wine bottles with the Rioja region of Spain being the most obvious exception. Increasingly, for a wide variety of reasons, the use of plastic stoppers and screw caps is becoming widespread. Why is this so, and what are the pros and cons of each method, and what should we be looking for when considering the alternatives? This really is a topic of hot debate in the world of wine at the moment. By tasting wines using the different methods of stopping, you can join this debate fully with your own opinions, thereby reinforcing the subjectivity of wine appreciation.
Most consumers still prefer natural cork and think of it as the most classy and professional way to package and stop wine. They would argue that the popping of a cork is part of the romance of wine appreciation, but it is true that the incidence of cork taint is on the increase. This occurs when a bad cork infects the wine with a mouldy, musty smell and flavour. Indeed it is believed that somewhere approaching one in twenty bottle are so affected, and whilst the worse ones are relatively easy to spot, those affected slightly do not become apparent...