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...that the Maestro aims to help smooth over. While the Maestro's ease of use is certainly a selling point, the new stopper's real advantage over cork closures is as a solution to TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole), the molecule that when present in cork is responsible for wine taint. "TCA is the great scourge of wine," says Peter Liem, the Épernay-based founder of champagneguide.net. "The problem is grave enough that it's becoming necessary to find either a solution to TCA in cork or an alternate closure...
...that need is at its most pressing in Champagne. The aroma of old sneakers or wet newspaper that signals the presence of TCA drives wine lovers to dump grand crus of all stripes down the drain. The problem is accentuated in sparkling wines like Champagne, whose bubbles only serve to volatilize the taint, making it all the more noticeable. Various studies suggest TCA affects anywhere from 1% to 7% of wines, but for Liem, arguing the exact percentage misses the point. "We are talking about a rate of failure - this renders wine undrinkable," he says. "What...
...Some Champagne producers are starting to agree. Recently, variations on the traditional Champagne cork have been appearing on the market, from the cork by Cortex Company, which has a silicon disk fixed to its bottom to prevent contact with wine, to the Mytik Diamant composite cork. "Our clients don't want to take risks anymore with traditional corks that may be tainted," says Benoît Ecrepont, director-general of Sibel, Mytik Diamant's manufacturer. By employing compressed, heated CO2 in a process similar to the decaffeination of coffee, the unwanted molecules are extracted from natural cork to make...
...Bruno de Saizieu, sales and marketing director of Maestro-maker Alcan, is confident that cork's reign will end one day. Judging from the success of Alcan's Stelvin wine screw cap - whose global sales have skyrocketed from 300 million in 2003 to 3 billion today - De Saizieu thinks Champagne will eventually adopt the Maestro system as well. "When we started the Stelvin, there were an enormous number of people who were outraged," he says. "Today, like them or not, screw caps are no longer questioned as viable alternatives around the world. In Champagne it will be the same...
Even though Q-ball was widely advertised to have an open bar, the only drinks available free of charge were wine and beer. There was also fingerfood like cheese and crackers and meat on sticks, but they seemed out of place and less than appetizing amidst the dim club lighting and the loud bass...