South Africa’s Wine Bonanza

French Winelovers Fight to Cork Their Bottles
THE TELEGRAPH: French defenders of natural wine corks have launched a multi-million pound offensive to counter the rise of the screw cap and plastic stopper, which they argue kill the mystique of bottle-opening.

Debate has been raging for years over whether the familiar sound of popping corks should be ditched in favour of alternatives that reduce the risk of a "corked" wine.

Cork stoppers have been used for centuries, but their dominance has gradually dropped from 95 per cent of the world wine bottle market to 70 per cent over the past 15 years.

But France's cork federation has hit back at those who say the spongy bark has had its day with a poll suggesting that almost nine out of ten French people prefer the traditional stopper.

They are using the figure to spearhead a massive poster campaign featuring wine and champagne bottles with bizarre alternative stoppers - from a perfume spray top to a plastic duck – with the slogan: "Always imitated, never equalled".

Eight out of ten French people, the Ipsos poll suggests, also equate real cork with quality wine, well-preserved aromas and long conservation. Almost all said cork perpetuated age-old savoir-faire. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Thursday, June 03, 2010

THE SHREWD ECONOMIST: Put a cork in it! >>>

WATCH SHORT BBC VIDEO: Cork harvest >>> | Friday, September 05, 2008

LISTEN TO BBC AUDIO: Cork industry under threat: Cork has been described as 'the ultimate green product', but the industry is under threat. >>> Paul Henry | Friday, September 05, 2010