corks, wine bottle stoppers, without which the appreciation of fine wine, and in particular bottle ageing, might never have evolved. Cork’s unique combination of qualities have made it by far the most popular stopper for wine, but in the late 20th century the science of wine production bounded ahead of the science of cork production, to the detriment of relations between the two industries (see corked wine).
© Jancis Robinson and Oxford University Press 1994, 1999, 2006, 2015