The alternative Australian closure for a bottle of sparkling wine Zork SPK which we reported on back in 2004, is coming to Europe. The British supermarket chain Tesco now sells four sparkling wines with this resealable stopper: Sparkling Brut Rosé Mateus, Tesco 1531 Blanquette de Limoux, Dino Durello Spumante, and Tesco Finest Angas Brut Rose, reports the British magazine Harpers Wine & Spirit Trades Review.
The Zork is easier to open, can be re-closed and is safer than a traditional cork. Plus, when you open a “zorked” bottle of sparkling wine (the wrong way) it pops just like a cork stopper. Normally a bottle of sparkling wine should make a soft hissing sound when you open it. We do not know if this is possible with the Zork, as we’ve never seen it in action.
In some regions, the use of alternative stoppers is yet prohibited. In the French AOC Blanquette de Limoux the Zork is allowed, provided that the name of the source region is printed on the cork. The Zork can be completely recycled.