Why corks are popping once more - - The Guardian

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 Why Cork Stoppers in Bottles of Our 

Spanish Artisan Wine Group Wines Matter

(Click on the line above, includes a slide show on cork.)

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 "Cork-makers are feeling buoyant as the wine industry turns away from screw-top bottles and back to traditional corks."   - - The Guardian

Carlos de Jesus of Amorim in Portugal explains the process of preparing cork
that will be made in natural cork wine stoppers.
Photo by Gerry Dawes©2010 / contact gerrydawes@aol.com for publication rights.
(Note: the photos in this blog post were not a part of The Guardian article.)

"Corks are on the way back, as 70% of winemakers favour them over screw-tops or plastic stoppers.

Forget screw-caps, the old-fashioned cork is making a comeback. This week, as the wine industry gathers at Vinexpo, the world's biggest wine fair in Bordeaux, traditional cork-makers are feeling buoyant.

"Today, 70% of winemakers have chosen cork over screw-caps or plastic wine stoppers," says Carlos de Jesus, head of communication at Amorim, the world's biggest cork producer.

So why the sudden comeback? Are consumers increasingly associating screw-caps with cheap wine? 

Not according to Valérie Hamon, of the wine retailer Nicolas. Light summer wines are still preferred in screw-cap bottles and, she argues, "cork doesn't always mean quality".

Nonetheless, winemakers from South Africa to California are making the switch back from screw-caps to cork.

Proof, according to De Jesus, that cork is back and here to stay."

Origin information: The Guardian

Gerry Dawes gerrydawes@aol.com

Premio Nacional de Gastronómia 2003 (Spanish National Gastronomy Award)

Food Arts Silver Spoon Award December 2009

Gallery of Chefs & Food Personalities: Portraits by Gerry Dawes

Web Pages:

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

Adventures in Spanish Taste: Insider's Food, Wine, Cultural and Photographic Travel in Spain

The Traveling Gastronomer: A Celebration of Food, Wine, Life, Photography & Quixotic Musings