funny how wine works, isn't it? i've had plenty of tasty stuff with natural cork, foam cork, and screwcaps each, and for all that i'm a major wino, i honestly don't have a preference. yes, Kim, i too would miss the sniff-ritual if all corks went away...but i do love the convenience of doing without. regardless, i have a standard waiter-style corkscrew stashed in my handbag ***at all times*** because the impromptu need for one has come up on more than one occasion.
and speaking of rieslings and corks: i was at a wine tasting this past saturday where i found a real treasure. several of the local wine stores do free tastings on weekends, but the one in question puts on a biggie with 3-5 vendors, 4 or 5 wines each, about every 6 months ago. this weekend's was one of the big ones, with 20 different mediterranean style wines, all of which were merely ok, sadly enough. i saw the owner/manager guy pouring over at a separate counter from the main show, and asked what it was he had there. turned out to be a 1975 german riesling, yes, with natural cork covering the bottle. i thought for sure there was no way such a light sweet unoaked little thing could possibly last that long! 30 years in the bottle and that riesling should be dead as dreams! but no, it was the most amazing thing EVER, and i was totally in love. the only thing as good as the taste was the price. an utterly insane $25 for this beauty. i'm in my wino happy place, for sure.