Bottle Variation

The grapes or even a bad cork can affect the taste of wine from the same maker.

Wine can be a fickle product. Bottles that look exactly the same can taste different. Gerain0812/Shutterstock

Almost exactly 50 years ago, in 1975, California signed into law the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that protected buyers of automobiles with major flaws that made them difficult if not impossible to fix.

Called a “lemon law,” the act became so popular that it was soon copied around the country; versions of it now protect other products as well.