Know the beginnings of the cork in your wine bottle?
Fascinating story about  the Portuguese national tree
Subject: FW: Cork Harvest



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            Cork Harvest







            Have you ever wondered where that cork in your bottle

            of wine comes from? The answer is most likely to be

            Spain or Portugal, where over half of the world’s

            cork is harvested.





            In fact it is the “National Tree” of Portugal .




            However, unlike other forms of forestry,

            the production of cork

            never involves the death of a tree.





            Instead, they are gently stripped,

            leaving a strange but fascinating

            landscape of denuded trunks.







            All of this takes some time.

            Cork trees can live to over 200 hundred years but are not 
considered ready for their cork to be removed

            until they are at least 25 years old.



            Even then, the first two harvests do not produce cork of be removed

            be removed I t isn’t until the trees are in their forties that they 
produce premium cork.








            Once the trees have reached the maturity necessary to produce high 
quality cork then they will be harvested

            only every nine years.



            A tree, in its lifetime, can be harvested (the process is known as 
extraction) about fifteen times.



            Little wonder then, that in Portugal and Spain the propagation of 
the trees and the production of cork has

            become an inter-generational industry, with farmers still producing 
a crop from trees planted by their

            great-great grandfathers.


            The cork must, however, be extracted from the trees without causing 
any lasting harm to them

            – otherwise, 9 years later they will be useless.





            Extraction takes place in the summer when the tree is least 
susceptible to damage.



            The poor cork which is produced as a result of the first two 
harvests is known as male cork:

            later extractions provide what is known as gentle cork which is 
what you will screw out of a wine bottle,

            the contents of which it helps to flavor.


            The extractors must be skilled at their job.

            They make two cuts to the tree.

            The first is horizontal and is cut around the tree.

            This is known as the necklace and the incision is made at a height 
around three times the circumference of the tree.







            Then a series of vertical cuts are made which are called openings 
or rulers.

            This is the point at which the extractors must use the most 
strength but at the same time

            be at their most gentle.

            They push the handle of the axe in to the rulers and carefully pry 
the cork away.





            If the cuts are too deep or impatiently done then there

            is a risk that the phellogen of the tree will be damaged.

            This is the cell layer which is responsible for the development and 
growth of the periderm of the tree –

            its bark in other words.





            Damage this and the tree will produce poor or no cork in the 
future: it may even die.  So strength and gentleness must be used in equal 
measure during the extraction.





            Once the cork is extracted it is stacked in layers and left to

            dry out.  Once that has taken place it is taken to be processed.





            The technique used leaves the trees alive and the

            environment intact – cork production is said to be one of the most 
eco-friendly and recyclable harvests on the planet.








            Not only is cork easy to recycle.  The trees prevent the local 
environment

            from becoming arid and so actively help to maintain rare ecosystems.







            Not only that, but the cork forests of the Iberian Peninsula are 
home to a number of endangered species

            which would find it much harder to thrive

            without the presence of the cork oak forests.








            Although 60% of the cork extracted is still used for bottle stoppers

             (despite the recent predilection for using alternatives)

            cork is an essential component of a number of other things too.



            If you are a fan of badminton, then without cork you would no 
longer be able to play

            – it is a vital component in the manufacture of shuttlecocks. 
cricket bats are made of cork.

            More sports rely on it too – the centers of baseballs and cricket 
bats are made of cork.











            Cork is also a great material to use for insulation.

            It is non-allergenic and easy-to-handle and if it does catch fire

            its fumes are not toxic like man-made insulation materials.



            The different segments of woodwind instruments are

            fastened together by pieces made from cork and not

            only that – the baton of your concert conductor will most

            likely also be made out of this versatile material.







            Cork has many other uses, too, including components of the fairings 
and heat shields of spacecraft.



            Yet ultimately, the fascination is in its production,

            which leaves so many trees stripped and bared to the elements and 
which gives the landscapes

            of parts of Spain and Portugal such a unique appearance.



























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