The cork, also known as the li-e (liège) cork, is made from the bark of the oak tree, which has so far proved to be the best protector of wine in the world.
Not all wine bottles in the world use cork , but they always make up the highest percentage. And around the production of these buttons there are also many interesting stories. Some of the answers can be found below.
Before the advent of glass bottles around 3000 BC, a material similar to cork was used as fishing tackle in China and Egypt. Until 400 BC, they were found in Italy and used in buoys, footwear and roofing materials.
Although cork is small, it can resist the aging process of wine.
In the 1st century BC, a bottle of wine was found in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city, and the special thing was that it was sealed with a kind of cork made from oak bark . Even so, cork is still not the last choice. At the end of the 17th century, French winemakers still used special materials from cloth to make wine cork.
Later, cork was used thanks to many different outstanding properties, among which are mainly lightweight, impermeable, hard to rot, compressible and high elasticity…
However, cork also has some limitations, especially in the preservation stage because of very strict requirements, such as keeping good humidity so that the cork does not dry out, making it difficult to open, as well as not allowing air to enter. inside, reducing the quality.
There are about 2.4 million hectares of oak forests in the world today. And more than half of the oak forests that harvest the bark to make wine cork come from Portugal. Thanks to the conditions of rainfall, wind and soil fertility, the oak forests here are quite developed. Other countries such as the US have also made efforts to grow this plant, but with little success. Therefore, the Mediterranean region is still considered the most important land of this plant.
There are about 2.4 million hectares of oak forests in the world today.
Cork is a sustainable and 100% renewable material when handled properly . Once the oak tree reaches maturity (25-30 years old), the oak can be harvested every 9 years. The first one or two harvests, most of the bark will be of poor quality, but the oak tree can be harvested until it reaches the 200-year mark. The oak tree can be 6m tall and about 40cm in diameter. As the tree ages, a new tree will grow to replace it.
When harvested, people will create small gaps in the trunk and then gradually separate the bark from the tree easily without causing lasting damage. Separation is only done between the beginning of May and the end of August.
The oak bark is so durable that they usually survive easily, even in wildfires. They also grow quite quickly.
Although the cork is small, it can resist the aging process of wine, making today’s wine glasses more delicious and it has been associated with the culture of wine enjoyment.