Did anyone think that natural cork would disappear? Yes, there was an Australian a few years ago who predicted that natural cork would completely die out as a closure for wine bottles. How wrong he was.
Today, people realise the important role of cork oak forests, not only as a good bottle closure for wine but also in preserving biodiversity, storing carbon and fighting fires.
Cork as a wine closure is popular with both producers and consumers. Current figures show that it has 70% of the market in France. 94% of wines in the United States over 20 USD are closed with cork.
Cork is the bark of the cork oak (Quercus suber L.), a tree that thrives in the area around the western Mediterranean and on the southern Atlantic coast, mainly in Portugal. Cork oak forests cover more than 2.1 million hectares worldwide, of which 34% are in Portugal, the majority in Alentejo.
The unique thing about the cork oak is that the bark regenerates after each harvest, without the tree ever being cut down. 2.4 – 4 times more carbon dioxide is captured by a tree that is exploited (used for cork production). 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide are absorbed by the Portuguese cork oak forests, which corresponds to 5% of the country’s emissions.
It is from the third harvest, when the tree reaches approximately 38 to 45 years of age that cork of sufficient quality for the manufacture of natural corks is obtained. The same cork oak can then provide bark for many years, 200 years or more.
Read more: apcor
