To cork or not to cork book read 27 reviews from the worlds largest community for readers explores the controversy about corking and wine bottle seali. George m taber is the author of judgment of paris the 2006 wine book of the year for britains decanter magazinehis second book to cork or not to cork won the jane grigson award from the international association of culinary professionals and was a finalist for the james beard foundation award for best book on wine and spirits and the andre simon award for best wine book. 9 to 12 years later a second harvest produces better material but still not good enough for cork bottle stoppers only the third and subsequent harvests produce cork with an even structure good enough to be used for wine closures the cork oak tree will then provide a harvest for some 200 years. There is not greater experience than the process of uncorking the bottle of wine followed by the sound of the cork popping out bringing back that wine fantasia into any wine experience this impermeable buoyant material which is the phellem layer of bark tissue has been around for the past 400 years as the preferred wine sealant and is