Flinch as top of cork found in Beaujolais? (5)
I believe the answer is:
wince
'flinch' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'top of cork found in beaujolais?' is the wordplay.
'top of' says to take the initial letters.
'found in' indicates putting letters inside.
'beaujolais?' becomes 'wine' (beaujolais is a kind of wine).
The first letter of 'cork' is 'c'.
'c' going into 'wine' is 'WINCE'.
'as' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for wince that I've seen before include "Cringe" , "React involuntarily from pain or embarrassment" , "show embarrassment" , "pained" , "Pull a face" .)