Buying a regular screw-top wine bottle can mean a number of things in some circles: 1) you have no appreciation of good wine; 2) you are cheap; 3) you are an efficient drinker (read: alcoholic). Overplayed (and possibly inaccurate) stereotypes aside, there’s a stigma to metal screw-tops that’s only redeemed by the typically lower cost of the wine they contain. It’s an often difficult choice at the liquor store, a tradeoff between class and pice. But the Helix cork pictured above could bridge that gap. In testing for about four years, the product is a result of a collaboration between “cork manufacturer Amorim and those at bottle-making company O-I. The new threaded, resealable design (and matching threaded bottle neck) is aimed at the “popular premium” wine market, which includes bottles that retail for between $8-$15, roughly.” Yes, this does mean these types of new corks will only work with matching bottles, since the grooves must fit in the treads to create a tight seal. You do, however, end up with an easily resealable bottle of wine, sold at a reasonable price, that doesn’t come with the common stigma of metal screw-tops.
And why spend 4 years testing a cork? Well, the companies were making sure the “agglomerated cork” material used didn’t end up affecting the taste, colour or aroma of the wine. It doesn’t. And even though the product was unveiled yesterday at the Vinexpo in Bordeaux, it’s going to be a couple of years before you see it in shelves.
VIA [ Gizmodo ]
