Hey Deb The South African wine industry has been using them for some time now. My future father-in-law and a mate of ours, both wine makers, say that they are more stable in the bottle neck than 'real' corks, and they don't crumble when extracting. Also they don't allow for the growth of the bacteria (cannt remember the name right now) that causes the 'corking' degeneration of the wine. Now that has got to be a HUGE win. There has also been no taste transfere of plastic to the wines.
BTW, there is a new trend (or maybe just a blip in the innovation space) towards screw top wine bottles. However, mate Niel (works for Douglas Green in Stellenbosch) is apparently having a terrible time with increased oxidation (particularly in his red wines), the extra space left by the vacant cork obviously contains more air than with the cork in and thus more oxidation takes place (not a good thing once you have bottled your perfect vintage). So make the bottle volume less ...........(duh!) I've seen the plastic rod grip idea being used by Shakespear on some of their low end prepackaged combo rods (eeeeewwww!) but it is a more expanded composition than the wine corks I have seen, feels terrible also. I've turned some pretty nice looking popper bodies from them, it does however leave a furry finish with cabinet paper, I burnished the turned body with a wide nib soldering iron on low heat and got a smooth finish. They take modeling enamels VERY well (eg: Humbrol, Tamiya, Revelle etc). Airbrushed on gave a better paint-cork bond (probably because I thin with Laquer Thinners and that disolves the surface of the cork a little allowing the paint to 'key on' better) than brushing, but only marginally. The density of the material is significantly higher than cork and is thus heavier for the same size bottle neck, the poppers tend to gurgle or chug along rather than splash and the sliders don't 'bob' back to the surface, but rather do the stealth submarine trick (slowly and very little surface disturbance). The sliders do dive really well and a rolly-polly retrieve gets them down deeeeeep. That's my bit. Cheers David -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Deborah Duran Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 4:46 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [VFB] Wine Corks Good point. For that matter they are filling our landfills with them also. I wonder if you will end up with that good "plastic" taste to your wine over time also. They do seal the bottle better but I wonder how it tastes with age? Hmmm. I like Jimmy's idea for using them on Lanyards. They do seem better suited for that. I'm not so sure I would like them as grips on rods. They will last longer and be more durable but you lose something in the appeal of the rod. Deb -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Critter Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 9:29 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [VFB] Wine Corks I wonder about the biodegradion of the new corks vs. the old when said fish takes a popper with them when your line snaps..... -Critter Quoting Charlie Bonner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > I dont know if any one else would use cork in the way that we do. While > hunting ducks,crows,turkeys, and Deer it is key to having your face covered > or blacked and a burnt cork is a great way to black out ones face and it > comes off really easy compared to camo make up. The new snythetic stuff is > horrible for that. We have a several wineries close to my house and they > save the old style corks for us I have a lifetime of burning cork. > > CRB > > >From: "Deborah Duran" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: <[email protected]> > >To: <[email protected]> > >Subject: [VFB] Wine Corks > >Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 10:18:21 -0500 > > > > > >I was just wondering what if anything to do with these new wine corks > >they're putting in wine bottles lately? They look like compressed rubber > >now instead of cork. What's with that? Can we use them? > >Deb > >www.uftri.com > > > > > > > -Critter (Hunting scaly creatures and catching furry creatures since 1808.) http://www.geocities.com/krazedcritter/Home ___________________________________________________________ Important Notice: Authorised Financial Services Provider Important restrictions, qualifications and disclaimers ("the Disclaimer") apply to this email. To read this click on the following address or copy into your Internet browser: http://www.absa.co.za/ABSA/EMail_Disclaimer The Disclaimer forms part of the content of this email in terms of section 11 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002. If you are unable to access the Disclaimer, send a blank e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and we will send you a copy of the Disclaimer.
