Ask Phoebe: Metal caps end risk of cork taint

Now that almost all wine bottles have metal screwcaps, do we still need to store or cellar them on their side? Do the metal caps ruin the wine? Do they leak? Bruce Redman, Herne Bay.

Villa Maria Estate's export and public relations manager, Ian Clark, says screwcaps were first tested in California in the 1930s, and 90 to 95 per cent of all New Zealand wines now have them.

You can either lay your bottles down or stand them up. The wines will age either way, because ageing is a function of the chemicals in the wine, and is not affected by the method of capping.

Wines sealed with a screwcap are guaranteed against leakage.

The caps are made of aluminium, with a polyethylene liner covered by tin foil.

The idea behind the use of screwcaps is to protect against cork taint, or "corked" wine, which alters the smell and taste of the wine. Cork, made from the bark of a tree, is prone to mould, which in turn creates a chemical infection known as 2,4,6, trichloroanisole, or TCA for short.

The degree of corking varies from bottle to bottle.

And a little exotic but useless information - according to recent figures, of the seven billion wine bottles sealed each year worldwide, the number using screwcaps has shot up from 300 million in 2003 to 2.5 billion this year.

Could you please clarify the road rules on cycling two abreast? I was led to believe this was allowed anywhere, as per the Road Rules website, which states, "You can only ride alongside another cyclist or moped. You must not ride alongside a car, truck or other motor vehicle".

However I was recently instructed not to do this by a police officer along the section of Tamaki Drive that is four lanes wide (we were within one lane). Mark Hammond, Auckland.

Very timely, given recent heated discussions between cyclists and motorists.

The Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004, 11.10, states very clearly that "a person must not ride a cycle or moped on a roadway so that it remains abreast and to the right of (a) two other vehicles that are cycles or mopeds; or (b) one other cycle or moped while that cycle or moped is overtaking and passing another vehicle, including a parked vehicle; or (c) any other vehicle having three or more road wheels (including a motor cycle fitted with a sidecar)".

So it's two abreast unless you're passing something, when you must go single file. The only exception is if you are in a race which is subject to a traffic management plan agreed by the roading authority.

My family has recently moved to Remuera and we have taken to walking on Mt Hobson. On the top there seems to be a man-made structure of flat grass surrounded by a fence and with large metal trapdoors over concrete constructions. There also seems to be some sort of vent.

Is this an underground reservoir of some sort, and if so, where does the water come from and go to? Mark Crouch, Remuera.

Mt Hobson has three water reservoirs, two on the summit and one next door to the pump building. The trapdoors you have seen cover a valve house on top of one of the upper reservoirs. Watercare operates the pump building and the reservoirs.

The reservoirs are not filled by rainfall. They are balancing tanks filled from the usual Auckland water supply, which is treated.