Bottlemaster plastic stoppers, which cannot leak, crumble, or mold, have long been available to winemakers, at a price slightly higher than that of traditional cork stoppers.

Many winemakers use cork stoppers; but cork stoppers can leak, crumble, or become moldy, so that those winemakers must often discard a significant proportion of their inventory of bottled wine.

Better corks allowed wine to be stored longer and more safely.