"corks" news and stories

After posting my homemade cork tray last month, I got some requests to see the tray in its entirety, so ask and ye shall receive!

Below you can check out a gallery that contains a bunch of pictures of my two trays. I first made the small one to test out my theory and have fun with alternating red wine and white wine corks. It was a really simple and easy project that now houses odds and ends near my front door. From there, I got the itch for grandeur and went much bigger with the second tray, seen in my other post.

Next up, I hope to make a larger and stronger tray for my large teapot, and maybe a non-resined tray that can double as a fancy trivet. And to answer the resin question: I'm not sure which brand I used for these -- I just pick up what's handy at the art supply stores.

Corks are one of the classiest pieces of garbage that can be made into something nice. Rather than throw them away, people fill ornate jars with them, make walls and bulletin boards with them, and even make trivets. But you can also make trays with them.

See, a friend of mine used to work in a restaurant, so he scored bag upon bag filled with corks for me, which were further compounded with the corks I was collecting myself. It bothered me to think of how many went in the trash, so I wanted to get crafty. My bright idea: Make cork trays. They're pretty, they've unique, and they provide a foodie double-service -- making the most of your waste while also making something new to present your food on.

What could be more appropriate for a wine and cheese gathering than cork trays?

I had a friend once who saved the corks from wine bottles. He said that he sent them to his brother for some reason or other I can't remember now. Now there really is a reason to save your corks (and not just for all those cork stamps you've been planning on making).

According to Chow: The Grinder, a new program called ReCORK America is operating in Oregon and California. ReCORK America collects and recycles used wine corks. It's sponsored by a Portugese cork manufacturer, Amorim, and works mainly with institutions that go though a lot of corks. However, they also have drop off centers so individuals can also participate.

Vino-Seal glass stoppers are the newest alternatives to corks. Made by Alcoa, the elegant glass bottle stoppers look like decorative decanter tops and seal the wine bottle using a rubber O-ring. They come sealed within a easy open capsule (the metal/plastic sleeve overcap) like other wine bottles and don't require a corkscrew or twisting off. Just remove the capsule and gently pry out the stopper with your thumb. To close just insert the stopper back into the opening. This is a great idea, and a new alternative to the sometimes annoying plastic corks and screw tops. The stoppers will be available in glass and acrylic and I assume in an assortment of colors, clear, translucent, opaque, or frosted.

Whitehall Lane, a small, family owned winery in California's Napa Valley is the first winery in the US to use the new stoppers in 45,000 bottles of Whitehall Lane premium 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon which will retail for $75, and 3,000 bottles of its premium 2003 Leonardini Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon which will retail for $100.

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Yep, you read that correctly - you could, with probably better odds than winning the lottery, win a years supply of wine. All you have to do is find a golden cork in a bottle of Brown Brothers wine. The only restriction is that you have to be in Australia!

Somewhere down under there are five golden corks stuck in a bottle of wine. If one is found before the 30th June that lucky imbiber will win plenty of wine. While some may consume rather more than the six bottles of wine per month up for grabs it isn't half a good prize! Especially as it lasts for 25 YEARS! You have to have Australian residency; sadly mine ran out years ago.  The five golden corks can be found  in  one of Brown Brothers Moscato, Pinot  Grigio, Tarrango, Dolcetto & Syrah,  Everton  Red, Everton  White, Spatlese  Lexia and Crouchen  Riesling.

There are also consolation prizes, with a further 684,551 corks or screw caps marked with the words "second chance." Find two of these and you could go into a draw for one of 500 Brown Brothers wine packs.

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