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Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine Bottle
Scribner
October 2007
On Sale: October 9, 2007
288 pages ISBN: 0743299345 EAN: 9780743299343 Hardcover
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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."
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