Corks - Put a plug in it!

Wine 101 by WhoWatches

Dom Perignon was more than just a monk and cellar master, he is also the guy who came up with the genius idea to put corks in wine bottles. Back in the 1600's wooden wine stoppers soaked in oil were used to plug wine bottles, of course they had a tendency to pop out, which posed a bit of a problem.  So old Dom decided to insert cone-shaped (conical) pieces of cork in the bottles instead.  Dom's little "aha" moment changed the wine industry forever. 


The very first cork factory opened in Spain in the mid 1700's. Currently Portugal dominates the corking market producting 52.5% of the corks in the industry every year, Spain is second with 29.5%. 

Cork Oak (Quercus suber ) start out as little acorns. Mature Cork Oaks are harvested once every 9-10 years, but the tree is not considered mature until its at least 25 years old and even then it's not until the third harvest that the cork is suitable for wine stopping. What's even more interesting is that Cork Oaks live about 200 years, producing as many as 18 useful harvests. Cork Oak is usually harvested during the spring or summer months (early May to late August). The cork is delicately removed from the tree in strips and then dried for 6 months or more, then they are boiled and and dried for an additional 3 weeks. After this process is complete the corks are cut, shaped, and washed.  The washing process is important to prevent potential bacterial growth. 

The reason why cork works so well with wine is that it expands naturally once it's inserted into the neck of the bottle, sealing in its contents. Bet you didn't think about all the effort it takes to deliver wine to your cellar.  It's not all about grapes! 
    
Here at the Wino house we've been collecting our corks.  Who knows what we'll do with them, maybe we'll have a cork crafting wine night or something - recycling at it's best!