It´s sustainable, recyclable, biodegradable, renewable and makes your feet less smelly. What´s not to like? Harvested from the cork oak tree, the bark is stripped every nine years for its lifetime of two centuries, or so. You may prefer your wine stopped with plastic or perhaps a screw-top, but aren´t we losing something, people?
“But a few years back, we were most disappointed with a Burgundy that was corked.” Well, dear friend, just how long ago was that, really. There have been huge advances in cork technology, such that wines today with the traditional stopper run little risk of being spoiled. Indeed, oak corks allow oxygen to react with the wine to ensure a proper, dignified aging.
I´m currently staying with my folks in the Alentejo region of Portugal, the country that not only put seven unanswered World Cup goals into North Korea´s net (and with them sealed a grim future with their `Dear Leader´), but also produces 50% of the global cork harvest. With winemakers switching to other materials and as one of the so called economically-challenged PIIGS, this is a worrying trend.
With reduced demand for this wonderfully natural asset, there is a threat of increased desertification as well as loss of habitat for the endangered Iberian Lynx. But cork is a rather resourceful commodity that will find itself used in baseballs (and cheaters´ bats), gaskets, a wafer-thin postage stamp, odor eating footwear, Mars spacecraft, floor tiles, luxury car interiors, insulation and of course for the Aussie hats that protect weather-beaten outback faces from those pesky flies.
So raise a glass and toast the marvels of cork.
Craig
Corkingly good
It´s sustainable, recyclable, biodegradable, renewable and makes your feet less smelly. What´s not to like? Harvested from the cork oak tree, the bark is stripped every nine years for its lifetime of two centuries, or so. You may prefer your wine stopped with plastic or perhaps a screw-top, but aren´t we losing something, people?
“But a few years back, we were most disappointed with a Burgundy that was corked.” Well, dear friend, just how long ago was that, really. There have been huge advances in cork technology, such that wines today with the traditional stopper run little risk of being spoiled. Indeed, oak corks allow oxygen to react with the wine to ensure a proper, dignified aging.
I´m currently staying with my folks in the Alentejo region of Portugal, the country that not only put seven unanswered World Cup goals into North Korea´s net (and with them sealed a grim future with their `Dear Leader´), but also produces 50% of the global cork harvest. With winemakers switching to other materials and as one of the so called economically-challenged PIIGS, this is a worrying trend.
With reduced demand for this wonderfully natural asset, there is a threat of increased desertification as well as loss of habitat for the endangered Iberian Lynx. But cork is a rather resourceful commodity that will find itself used in baseballs (and cheaters´ bats), gaskets, a wafer-thin postage stamp, odor eating footwear, Mars spacecraft, floor tiles, luxury car interiors, insulation and of course for the Aussie hats that protect weather-beaten outback faces from those pesky flies.
So raise a glass and toast the marvels of cork.