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Percentage of diners who work from home who say they go out to lunch less frequently than they did before the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. Further analyses by the reservation service Open Table reveals that lunch reservations at restaurants with an average check of $50 or more were down considerably—especially in Chicago (58%), Philadelphia (54%), and New York City (38%).

Metal screwcap wine bottle closures were first introduced in the 1990’s by Australia.

Answer: False.

The first patent on twist cap technology was granted in 1858 to John Landis Mason (yup, the Mason jar) for a zinc twist cap. However, wine’s high acidity is corrosive to metal, making the screwcap a poor choice for sealing wine bottles. It wasn’t until the 1960’s when the French company Le Bouchage Mécanique in Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy invented an aluminum twist cap with a non-reactive underside, that the technology gained traction with the wine industry. The Swiss were among the early adopters, using the closure to bottle chasselas, a white wine that was particularly subject to cork taint. It wasn’t until the late 1990s, as Australia was experiencing rapid growth in its wine industry and a subsequent shortage of corks, that screw caps were used in significant volume and the successful results shared with the world. At that time, the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) published the findings of their groundbreaking closure trial, which showed how well the screwcap retained wine’s freshness and prevented cork taint. So it would be more accurate to say that it was the Australians who threw their weight behind promoting the screwcap internationally and helped dispel the idea that screwcaps were only fit for low quality wines. Today, an estimated 5 billion full-size bottles a year are sealed this way.

“[Our path to professional paradise] ultimately comes down to passion, and not just for wine. Passion for life, for each other, for journalism, and for the romance and adventure of wine—not so much the liquid in the bottle, as the history and the memories. In that sense, a piece of paradise is available, with a little effort, to lovers everywhere.”

— Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, former Wall Street Journal wine columnists and co-authors, Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes on a Marriage.

— Dorothy Gaiter, former Wall Street Journal wine columnist and co-author, Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes on a Marriage.

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