Yes consuelo, I’ve had quite a number of very drinkable New World wines in bottles sealed with plastic corks lately. I understand your unhappy face, but they work pretty well and at least they are preferable to screw tops, though for some people perhaps they still degrade the whole quaffing experience. On the other hand a bottle of corked wine does that too – especially if it’s the last one you have! I sent four bottles back one after the other in a restaurant once - and without arguement, but quite an expense for them.
In 1996 I was involved with construction of a pipeline in Portugal. Part of the route ran up the Setubal Peninsula (The Portuguese pronounced it as Stooble, as near as I can get it). Protection of the valuable cork trees was *the major consideration in the contract and payments for any that had to be removed were steep. We took extreme care, but at one point, due to delayed negotiations, the local cork farmers were out with guns!
