On May 1, 1:14�am, Steve Slatcher > wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:26:43 -0700 (PDT), "Bi!!" >
> wrote:
>
> >After a twenty minute lecture on from the
> >vintner on how far natural corks have come since the 70's, I brought
> >forth a bottle of his own winery's top level Cabernet from the 1997
> >vintage to open and share with him......it was badly corked.
>
> Isn't it true though that most of the improvements "since the 70s"
> have been in the last 5 years or so? So the 1997 would not have seen
> any of them.
>
> --
> Steve Slatcherhttp://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

He wasn't referring to synthetics. He felt that particularly during
the 70's that cork producers were trying to meet a demand that they
couldn't meet and still maintain a level of quality. The demand rose
as the New World wine makers came on board in terms of quantity. He
felt that the 70's in particular were a dark period for cork producers
and little care was given in regards to the spread of TCA through
infected corks.