HomeDad - liked your cork sniffer remark, although those who do "sniff" corks, miss the mark as to why they are presented corks at restaurants and probably don't know as much about wine as they think they do. One is not going to determine if a wine is good by sniffing a cork, although there are scents on the cork you will not get a full picture of the wine until you smell it and taste it in the glass. The cork is presented to an individual at a restaurant for inspection for two main reasons:

1. To confirm the wine is actually what you ordered.
2. To determine that the wine has aged properly and the cork does not show signs of rot, drying out, or leakage, which all indicate a poor seal and are a good indication that you should examine your wine when tasting for signs of oxidation/taint.

Point one developed when there was widespread abuse over a century ago of restrauntuers re-using famous bottles/vintages and filling them with their own wine and charging a premium for those who ordered them. One way for wineries to prevent this deception was to print their names on the corks, so that when the bottle was opened you were virtually ensured you got what you ordered (it's almost impossble to re-cork a bottle with a re-used cork without signs of use and wear).

Point two is pretty self explanatory.

The cork may always have it's place, but I think industry wide the move is going to continue toward screw caps and this is actually industry/consumer driven.

Imagine if 1 out of every 12 Axiom speakers sold was defective. There would be customer outcry and if not corrected, Axiom most certainly would go out of business. However, in the wine industry, nearly one out of every twelve bottles that is sealed with a cork is sealed incorrectly. This goes for winereies of every level. So if you buy a case of wine, odds are that one of the twelve is probably tainted, however you have no recourse. You can't return the bottle to the winery for a new one. And the wineries know this and basically have you over a barrell (pun intended).

How does that make you feel if you have bought a nice bottle for a special occasion and it's undrinkable? Or imagine if you are a collector and you purchase cases of First growth Bordeaux or cult California Cabs which will set you back hundreds of dollars per bottle? So compared with other consumer goods and standards of quality, wine has been slow in the uptake of new tech.

The industry is exploring other sealing/bottling techs. that seal better than cork, and sealing processes that are cleaner and ensure there is less chance of taint by TCA and other environmental factors/microbes, etc.

So enter the screw cap. It seals better and studies show it holds it's seal as well or better than cork over time. Of course you lose the presentation/romance associated with opening a bottle with a cork, but you are more likely ensured the wine you bought is going to taste the way it was supposed to taste.

DL