The cork stops here.

There has been much debate between the use of synthetic cork and the real cork for the wine bottle. Pros and cons go over the environmental, aesthetic and technical aspects on which one will become the ultimate cork. One reason to use real cork is the seal. It is said that synthetic corks are being used on bottles that are to be consumed with five years or less because of the lack of seal that synthetic cork provides. I disagree.

This synthetic cork broke the bottle opener. This is when the real debate began. How do you open the bottle now? Unlike real cork, you couldn't core out the cork or push the cork through to free the wine from it's glass cage. It was also out of the question to 'beer brawl' crack open the bottle or discard it all together. In the end, we relied on brute strength to get the job done.