[wine] Beware of bark corks

Dear friends, Jancis Robinson's web site reports today on an e-mail she received from David Lloyd of Australia's Eldridge Estate winery, who was chair of this past weekend's Mornington Peninsula (Australia) International Pinot Noir Celebration.  Mr. Lloyd reported that at this event, only three non-European wineries showed wine with conventional bark corks.  (This is not surprising news; screw caps are ubiquitous on Australian and NZ wines.)  He also reported that the corked bottle count among the Burgundies was 20 out of 185 (10.8%).  This at an event at which the featured Burgundy producers were DRC, de Montille, and Serafin.  My personal take on this -- I don't claim to be unbiased on this subject -- is that even at the level of the elite producers, and even among what were (presumably) current release wines for the most part, Burgundians just don't give a darn about a failure rate exceeding one bottle per case.  Everybody is lining up to buy their wines anyhow.  Caveat emptor if you're out there looking for 2009's to buy, or shopp ing for bargains among prior vintages. Don't forget to have some rose bubbly in honor of Valentine's Day! Best regards, Russ