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WINE:New ways of sealing wine bottles will reduce the number of corked or oxidised bottles that arrive on our tables, writes Pat Carroll

IF, EVERY TIME you came home from the supermarket, between two and five per cent of what you'd bought was rotten, damaged or generally unusable, you'd be annoyed. Yet every time we buy a bottle of wine sealed with a cork, we take the risk of the wine being "off". Older bottles, having been in contact with the cork for longer, are more susceptible than younger ones, but cork taint can affect all wines. Estimates vary on the proportion of corked wine, but most commentators agree that it runs from two to five (some say 10) per cent.