An Oxymoron?
Plastic Corks

Wine traditionalists, to their horror, have been observing growing numbers of synthetic corks on the market. To seal an organic substance, they say, with a synthetic stopper is not only degoûté but outright detrimental to a wine. On the contrary. There are quite a number of advantages to traditional corks, and winemakers that are using synthetic stoppers are actually looking out for your wine-drinking pleasure.

The advantages:

• Allow wine to age better, since it will not become corked—with a regular cork you might store a bottle for years, not realizing it has become moldy
• Seal tight and eliminate leakage while maintaining the gaseous exchange believed to be a key factor in aging a wine
• Elasticity prevents breaking and crumbling regardless of age
• Very easy to extract

Based in Céret, France, Sabaté SA is the world's second largest wine and spirits cork supplier. Its synthetic Altec wine closure is used by winemakers and production managers at Coppola, Blackstone, David Bruce and Adler Fels, to name a few. The Altec stopper, which looks and feels natural, is a fusion of organic cork particles and synthetic polymers. It has been tested successfully over ten years. For more information on the product, please contact sabateusa@sabate.com.

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