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To Cork or Not To Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine Bottle

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Manufacturer: Scribner
Category: EBooks

List Price: ~~$17.99~~
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $8.00 (44%)

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

8 reviews
Sales Rank: 5647

Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288

Dewey Decimal Number: 641.22
ASIN: B000W912XS

Publication Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

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•	Thomas Jefferson on Wine

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
In Judgment of Paris, George M. Taber masterfully chronicled the historic 1976 wine tasting when unknown California wines defeated top French ones, marking a major turning point in wine history. Now he explores the most controversial topic in the world of wine: What product should be used to seal a bottle? Should it be cork, plastic, glass, a screwcap, or some other type of closure still to be invented?For nearly four centuries virtually every bottle of wine had a cork in it. But starting in the 1970s, a revolution began to topple the cork monopoly. In recent years, the rebellion has been gathering strength. Belatedly, the cork industry began fighting back, while trying to retain its predominant position. Each year 20 billion closures go onto wine bottles, and, increasingly, they are not corks.The cause of the onslaught against cork is an obscure chemical compound known as TCA. In amounts as low as several parts per trillion, the compound can make a $400 bottle of wine smell like wet newspaper and taste equally bad. Such wine is said to be "corked." While cork's enemies urge people to throw off the old and embrace new closures, millions of wine drinkers around the world are still in love with the romance of the cork and the ceremony of opening a bottle.With a thorough command of history, science, winemaking, and marketing, Taber examines all sides of the debate. Along the way, he collects a host of great characters and pivotal moments in the production, storage, and consumption of wine, and paints a truly satisfying portrait of a wholly intriguing controversy. As Australian winemaker Brian Croser describes it: "It's scary how passionate people can be on this topic. Prejudice and extreme positions have taken over, and science has often gone out the window."

Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

An interesting book with a limited audience August 12, 2008
To really enjoy this book I think you need to like wine, have some interest in the chemistry of wine, and enjoy stories of marketplace battles between products. The book worked for me, but many will find parts of it uninteresting.

The cork has a long, generally distinguished tradition as a wine bottle stopper. But in the last three decades poor process control started to allow corks tainted with a foul-tasting contaminant to reach market, and the "corked" bottle of wine became an increasing challenge to vintners.

This set off a wave of entrepreneurs trying to build a better "cork" (or at least a better seal). The book tells the story of many brands, and their challenges, successes, and failures. Many fell by the wayside, but several are still expanding in the marketplace, each having its proponents and detractors. Ultimately, there is probably no ideal stopper for every bottle. Different approaches may apply to different wines with different aging requirements and different life expectancies. And wines may need to be made differently depending on the stopper chosen.

While the need for new stoppers seemed obvious five or ten years ago, corked bottles are clearly less of a problem in recent years. At the end the author explains how the cork industry has brought this about by cleaning up its act. So cork is likely to remain the stopper of choice for wines intended for years of bottle aging for some time to come. But as wine production expands the need for seals that don't rely on the bark production of some old oak trees is certain to increase. The battle for that market will continue. At least as long as bottles hold out against bags in boxes ...

4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic read August 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I'm a wine industry professional and this book was packed with new information that was fascinating while not being overly technical. I think my favorite parts were little facts about TCA 2,4,6. I highly recommend reading this if you ever have to deal with the question of cork vs screw cap. However it doesn't draw a definite conclusion but gives you enough information to formal an intelligent opinion.

4 out of 5 stars

wine bottle closure July 29, 2008
Worth reading, got a broad insight into the merits of different bottle closures. The time line of development was very interesting. The development of the business aspect and human inertia was good.

5 out of 5 stars

Don't Go Cork, Get Screwed! July 19, 2008
Having read "Judgment of Paris" by this author and frankly finding it a bit of a single topic disappointment, I happily discovered in this book that not only does the author choose a subject worth a whole book, but he also makes it an exciting read! Don't get me wrong - the cork vs. screwtop vs. synthetic cork debate may not interest everyone, but if you are interested in wine (and drink it at least a few times a week) this book will entertain you with a bit of science and lots of great anecdotal points to give the topic some juice.

I've read maybe 10 wine books this Summer and this was by far my favorite. Whether you're still romanced by cork, a lover of plastic or a true lover of wine (Stelvin closures) this book thoroughly covers the topic and makes it interesting as well. Cork industry, beware!

4 out of 5 stars

At last the truth is out January 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

George Taber has finally unearthed what so many of us in the wine industry have been saying; Closures are dependent on the varietal, region and the target consumer. Mr. Taber has taken a rather dull topic and made a page turner book revealing personal and industry stories of the history of wine closures and their varying success. This author has obviously spent a lot time investigating and interviewing notables in the wine world to bring us all up to speed. I hope this book reaches international readership so the wine world can continue its quest for quality and ultimately, a better consumer experience.

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