The Dangers In Opening Corked Wine Bottles

RCCOLA

Imagine this, all because I was trying to drink a glass of wine.

As described in ads, TV, doctors, etc one glass a wine a day could keep you healthy, wise and keep the doctor away.

Now, my life has been turned upside down. Merely by trying to open a corked bottle of wine. Now I have traumatic injuries sustained by the myth that corked wine is of better quality, has better preservative, etc. The general pubic is under the assumption that wine is better quality and that is why wine companies sell the majority of corked wine. They sell more product and get more money.
Bottom line, more money and no consideration as to the safety of the general public.
By being a consumer, giving them my money, and pulling a cork that appears too large for the bottle and or a defective glass bottle, I am now going to be somewhat defective myself. When I was pulling the cork, the neck snapped off the bottle and forced my hand into the 3/8" jagged edge on the shoulder of the bottle and, in a split second, I am now disabled. The bottle sliced into the palm on my hand severed muscles, 2 tendons, and several nerves. What ever else is in the width of the palm.
Now with one disabled hand and a middle finger standing straight as I gesture the world daily, it is quite humiliating. Not to mentioned that my hand has very little strength and will only bend half way with the finger protruding outward. No guitar playing, piano, golfing or simple trying to get something out on you own pocket since the middle finger is the longest and is in the way of everything else. These are only a few things the hand has use for. On the computer, which I use for my job and my life, I am a one handed "pecker" instead of a two handed typist.

I am posting this information so the general public will be imformed about some of the dangers in opening corked bottles. These companies are not disclosing or posting warning of dangers. They are also not including information about tainted wine from corks after research. Corked wine has been an issue for sometime with no attempt to warn the public.

I personally have talked to many different people and almost every 99% have said the have experienced or seen individuals having problems opening corked wine. They have seen edges break and chip, corks breaking off or some people can not pull the cork out of the bottle so they drive the cork into the bottle. Some people try pulling the cork form holding the bottle under the arm or between their legs, if the bottle broke, it could slice the main artery and could possibility bleed to death. The wine companies need to get with the program, and cap the wine or box it and put warning labels and instructions on every bottle. Put the public's safety first instead of the profit in there pockets. Safety first, anyone else with injuries like mine can help me post this though out cyber space to help warn others.

Explosive_Cornflake

Are you actually being serious? I'm sorry if its true, and for your hand and all, but this is just one of these things thats happens. An accident (although i don't believe in sych tings as accidents) of sorts. S**t happens. Thats the way of the world. Whats to say the metal wouldn't cut someone's hand when they unscrew the lid?

leeroybrown

Screw top bottles are as cheap / cheaper and much reduce the risk of a vineyard ending up with a 'corked' (TCA contamination) batch of wine. The main reason that the corks are used is tradition and some producers have moved to screw-tops after ending up with corked batches.

bonkey

Originally posted by RCCOLA
The general pubic is under the assumption that wine is better quality and that is why wine companies sell the majority of corked wine. They sell more product and get more money.



Bottom line, more money and no consideration as to the safety of the general public.
By being a consumer, giving them my money, and pulling a cork that appears too large for the bottle and or a defective glass bottle, I am now going to be somewhat defective myself. When I was pulling the cork, the neck snapped off the bottle and forced my hand into the 3/8" jagged edge on the shoulder of the bottle and, in a split second, I am now disabled. The bottle sliced into the palm on my hand severed muscles, 2 tendons, and several nerves. What ever else is in the width of the palm.
Now with one disabled hand and a middle finger standing straight as I gesture the world daily, it is quite humiliating. Not to mentioned that my hand has very little strength and will only bend half way with the finger protruding outward. No guitar playing, piano, golfing or simple trying to get something out on you own pocket since the middle finger is the longest and is in the way of everything else. These are only a few things the hand has use for. On the computer, which I use for my job and my life, I am a one handed "pecker" instead of a two handed typist.

I am posting this information so the general public will be imformed about some of the dangers in opening corked bottles. These companies are not disclosing or posting warning of dangers. They are also not including information about tainted wine from corks after research. Corked wine has been an issue for sometime with no attempt to warn the public.

Errrr...

by "corked wine" I assume you mean "bottles of wine which are sealed by corks" and not what the term actually means which is "wine which has gone off due to the cork not providing an airtight seal".

Using corks in wine bottles it is far from a profit-making exercise. In fact, the increase in the price of cork as good-quality cork has become rarer and rarer means that selling wine with an actual honest-to-god cork in the bottle is one of the most expensive ways a wine-seller can actually ship the stuff.

The most common replacement the market has seen are various forms of silicon corks. Unfortunately, these are just as prone to be over/undersized as "real" corks, and so are pretty much no different.

Some people try pulling the cork form holding the bottle under the arm or between their legs,

No offence, but those people are idiots. They are being as sensible as someone who thinks a kitchen knofe is the right implement to open a tin of beans with.

The only form of corkscrew you should ever use is one which uses a leveraging system - i.e. you are not pulling the cork directly out, but rather leveraging it. The "waiters friend" is the cheapest option, but there are a myriad of others (including the classic "two-armed" lifter) ranging in price from a yo-yo or two to a hundred or two.

Using the corkscrew on your Swiss Army Knife, or any similar "direct pull" variety should only ever be done as a last resort and only with the utmost of care.

The wine companies need to get with the program, and cap the wine or box it

Not acceptable. "Capped" wine doesn't store as long - the seal just isn't good enough. The only non-dirt-cheap wine you will tyically find capped are Swiss/Italian whites. The reason? These wines are intended to be drunk young, and so the lack of a perfect seal is not an issue. For something like a Chateau Musar that you might age for a decade, or a Rothschild you put down for 20+ years, a cap is a waste of time.

Similarly, plastic is not an ideal choice, given that (contrary to popular opinion) it doesn't provide an odour-resistant seal. The wine can pick up odours over time, affecting the flavour. For this reason, boxing is again only suitable for cheap plonk which is to be drunk young and where no-one is too worried about the quality anyway.

Ultimately, a glass bottle capped with a real cork, (ideally with a wax-seal over the cork) is to the best of my knowledge unsurpassed in terms of actually preserving the quality of the wine. There is simply no real cost-effective alternative. Cheaper wines, which will not be stored for decades can survive an artificial cork. However, you then enter the marketing issue whereby the sealing mechanism is a direct comment on the quality of the wine......which is simply counter-productive as a safety measure.

I sympathise with you for having sustained your injury, but I don't think arguing that wine is packaged wrong is the solution to preventing others from suffering likewise.. A good bottle-opener is - and will remain - the best solution.

jc