Problem
Which wines have stoppers instead of corks and why?
Answers
Madeira, port, sherry will have stoppers. They are all fortified wines. they don't need to breathe through the cork. The purpose of a cork in a bottle is to allow maturing in the bottle. But fortified wine such as Madeira, and any spirit, is sold ready to drink, doesn't need a conventional cork.
A stopper is a cork at the base, but it has a plastic top. You can pull it out easily, without a corkscrew, and push it back easily.
In addition, you need to put the stopper back it, because you might drink a whole bottle of wine between two or four people over the course of an evening, but fortified wine with its higher alcohol content is too strong, so you need a stopper to keep it - because it's too expensive to throw away.
Madeira In Cooking
What about keeping it for cooking? Apparently Madeira is used a lot in French restaurants. That is to say, according to books by experts, the wine is sold more to the trade than the public.
So there you have it. Mystery solved, about the corks. But another mystery, about uses for Madeira.
There is an antiquated sauce Madère which uses Madeira. We have been trying to find out for ages what French restaurants use Madeira for.
Maybe just for a tipple after the chef's finished the evening of cooking? Maybe the happy owner has counted the takings!
Nope. It is used for cooking. How do we know the Madeira is used for cooking? It is adulterated by salt and pepper because alcoholic drinks in every country are taxed, the charge is lower, so it can't be used for drinking, so the seller and buyer don't fiddle the customs and excise people by using it for drinking.
Containers
There's no chance of your being sold an undrinkable Madeira, nor of a burglar making off with the wrong kind by mistake. Madeira for cooking is not even sold to restaurants in the drinking bottle, but in bulk containers. I don't know what it looks like. I don't have a picture. I haven't seen one, so I can't tell you. But when I get to Madeira I shall report back.
If you know the answer, please tell me. It is all, as they say, a trade secret.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please see my other blog post on Luxurytravelforless.co.uk
Which wines have stoppers instead of corks and why?
Answers
Madeira, port, sherry will have stoppers. They are all fortified wines. they don't need to breathe through the cork. The purpose of a cork in a bottle is to allow maturing in the bottle. But fortified wine such as Madeira, and any spirit, is sold ready to drink, doesn't need a conventional cork.
A stopper is a cork at the base, but it has a plastic top. You can pull it out easily, without a corkscrew, and push it back easily.
In addition, you need to put the stopper back it, because you might drink a whole bottle of wine between two or four people over the course of an evening, but fortified wine with its higher alcohol content is too strong, so you need a stopper to keep it - because it's too expensive to throw away.
Madeira In Cooking
What about keeping it for cooking? Apparently Madeira is used a lot in French restaurants. That is to say, according to books by experts, the wine is sold more to the trade than the public.
So there you have it. Mystery solved, about the corks. But another mystery, about uses for Madeira.
There is an antiquated sauce Madère which uses Madeira. We have been trying to find out for ages what French restaurants use Madeira for.
Maybe just for a tipple after the chef's finished the evening of cooking? Maybe the happy owner has counted the takings!
Nope. It is used for cooking. How do we know the Madeira is used for cooking? It is adulterated by salt and pepper because alcoholic drinks in every country are taxed, the charge is lower, so it can't be used for drinking, so the seller and buyer don't fiddle the customs and excise people by using it for drinking.
Containers
There's no chance of your being sold an undrinkable Madeira, nor of a burglar making off with the wrong kind by mistake. Madeira for cooking is not even sold to restaurants in the drinking bottle, but in bulk containers. I don't know what it looks like. I don't have a picture. I haven't seen one, so I can't tell you. But when I get to Madeira I shall report back.
If you know the answer, please tell me. It is all, as they say, a trade secret.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please see my other blog post on Luxurytravelforless.co.uk
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