Foil, Foiled

So much of our modern world is shaped by vestigial design elements from a bygone era - echoes of traditions and solutions to problems past, no longer with practical purpose but left to exist, innocuous, benign, but somehow still just there.

Ashtrays on airplanes. Floppy disk "save" icons.

Why, I wondered, do we have foil covering the top of wine bottles?

Traditionally, as wine bottles were stored in ancient caves, rarely touched or observed for years, even decades, wine corks proved tasty treats for weevils, vermin, and other pests that don't pair so nicely with an aged cab.

Foil caps served to protect the cork, and wine, from invading species. Though once made with lead, today's foil caps are typically aluminum or plastic. They also will have a small hole punched in the top, allowing a bit of airflow to the cork and thus allowing the wine to gently age.

Thanks to the miracles of modern pest control, we've largely done away with the risk of cork invaders in our wine cellars. But the foil still remains, now just a standard, forgotten aspect to wine bottle design.