Hip Tastes Blog

Why Zork?
filed under: Goods & Gadgetry, Ramblings

Why Not? This Aussie import aims to solve the spoilage problem afflicting about one in every ten bottles of wine closed with traditional cork closures. Problem always was, folks just like to hear a cork pop when opening a bottle. I completely understand: it's tradition.

But for pete's sake, all the spoilage has got to stop. I've certainly become more intimately acquainted with just how prevalent cork taint is since I dramatically upped the number of wines I taste as a result of my wine studies. I know: you feel really sorry for me.

TCA, or trichloroanisole, is a foul-smelling compound responsible for most apparent wine faults. It occurs when a bottle's cork has become tainted with TCA during the cork harvesting and treatment process. Cork taint is not a fault of the winemaker but rather a chance occurrence resulting from cork's natural susceptibility to TCA.

The high incidence of cork taint in the late 90s was a major catalyst for the switch to alternatives such as synthetic corks and screw caps. But with screw caps - favored by increasing numbers of adventurous producers mostly making wine in New World regions like Australia, New Zealand and California - there was always something more to be desired. More flourish. More pomp. More pop.

Enter the Zork. Developed by Aussie John Brooks, the Zork "seals like a screwcap and pops like a cork." Right. To open, you pull on a synthetic tear tab on the bottleneck, pull on the Zork and - pop- out it comes. It's made in three parts, mostly polyethylene, and is recyclable. How very business savvy of them.

But now I'm starting to sound like a wine Zork. I mean dork.

www.zork.com.au/

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Posted by Courtney on January 8, 2006 10:55 PM