From the Tasting Room: The Cork Story

Cork is tree bark! Several hundred years ago, a French winemaker/monk (named Dom Perignon) discovered that cork bark was a quick and easy way to seal a bottle of wine. Only in recent decades have new synthetic, glass, and screw-top stoppers been used to keep wine in the bottle. But these new methods are not nearly as energy efficient or environmentally friendly as good, old-fashioned, natural cork-the most sustainable agricultural product in the entire world. Cork is actually the bark of an oak tree (Quercus suber) grown in Spain, Portugal and other Mediterranean countries. Once the oak tree is about 20 years old, the outside bark can be carefully stripped from the tree in large sheets. So long as the underlying cambium layer of the tree remains uninjured, the bark will regrow and more bark can be harvested every 10-15 years. Some trees have produced cork bark for over 200 years! Cork is a natural substance that can seal a bottle completely.It can be compressed just enough to fit into the bottle, and then expandand maintain a perfect seal for decades. Unlike metal screw tops orplastic stoppers, natural cork requires very little energy to be cut to the correct size. Metal screw caps must first be mined from the earth and then refined with electricity and molded by machines. Plastic stoppers trace their source to petroleum, and we all know how precious oil has become in this age. Even the new glass stoppers require enormous amounts of energy to be refined and molded. Meanwhile, the cork tree simply converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into cellulose. Throughout the Mediterranean area, there are now extensive forests of cork trees. These forests have become an important ecosystem in the region. While the trees sequester carbon from the atmosphere, cattle, goats and sheep graze in the shade of the trees. The cork trees also provide important wildlife habitat for many native species of animals and birds. The oaks protect the soil from wind and water erosion also. The forests of cork trees are, like most forests, aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Unlike the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest, the trees are well spaced creating a savannah-like setting. More than one cork oak tree has offered shade for a perfect picnic. A bottle of wine, and loaf of bread, and thou'. At Willamette Valley Vineyards we use natural cork to seal our bottles of wine. It is another environmentally friendly way to conduct our business.