STUDENT WITH CORK TEST DEVELOPED AT MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY, 1998-11-25 (photo)

Engineering student Anne-Sophie Courtes, 22, from Reims University in France displays November 25 part of a new test she helped develop to determine the amount of oxygen seepage through corks. The simple test may help wine makers control the age-old problem of wine oxidation, an issue which costs the wine industry millions of dollars a year. Courtes collaborated with Australian Gregor Christie, a research fellow at Swinburne University in Melbourne, to devise the test which involves placing a tablet in a bottle of water or simulated wine and then corking the bottle. As oxygen enters, the clear liquid contents of the bottle gradually turns pink, getting darker as more oxygen enters. WB/JJ/KM