A bunch of pop stars

WHETHER it is New Year’s Eve or a quiet night in, the popping of a cork is bound to make us feel good. Now it seems the sound of the bottle being opened makes the wine taste better too.

In a study, drinkers rated wines with a cork 15 per cent higher in quality than those from screw-top bottles.

Oxford University scientists gave 140 participants glasses of near-identical Argentinian reds. The tasters were played a recording of a cork popping or a screw top opening and told to sample the wines.