Widespread concerns within the wine industry concerning ‘random oxidation’ of wine through passage of oxygen down the side of some corks were answered recently in a paper published in the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research. It claims that instead of facilitating such an outcome, the paraffin wax used to coat the majority of the 400 million corks used in Australia each year actually serves to prevent it from happening. Unless, of course, you’re prepared to wait the estimated 9,400 years for enough oxygen to slip ‘twixt wax and glass.
