Why use cork as a wine closure?
Are all corks the same?
What
are cork manufacturers doing to improve the quality of their product?
What
guarantee does the winemaker have that the wine will reach the consumer in peak condition?
As
a winemaker, does it matter which manufacturer or supplier I buy my wine corks from?
If
I buy good-quality corks from a reputable supplier, will that ensure the corks will always
perform as required?
What is the incidence of cork taint?
Can wine be affected by
TCA only through the cork?
Is all wine spoilage caused by TCA?
Is
it true that cork taint is caused by the widespread use of pesticides in the 1950s and
60s?
How do champagne corks differ
from natural cork?
What is a Twin Top® cork?
Is there a world shortage of cork?
Are
the cork trees cut down to obtain the material to produce wine corks?
What is a colmated cork?
Q: Why use cork as a wine closure?
A: Cork is a unique substance and a long-proven closure for wine. No other stopper combines cork's inert nature, impermeability to liquids, flexibility, sealing ability and resilience. Being a natural product, cork is also environmentally friendly, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. Cork manufacturers such as Amorim combine cork's natural qualities with the latest technology to produce an ideal stopper for wine.
A: No. Wine corks are graded by quality in up to seven categories. The quality depends on the raw material used and the production processes adopted by the manufacturer. There are also different corks for fortified, sparkling and still wines.
Q: What are cork manufacturers doing to improve the quality of their product?
A: The cork industry and individual producers are striving to achieve the highest standards. Amorim invests about US$ 6 million a year in research & development to help fulfill its quality commitment to the wine trade. The company's top R&D priority is to eliminate 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) from its wine corks.
Q: What guarantee does the winemaker have that the wine will reach the consumer in peak condition?
A: Industry standards are set out in the European Cork Federation's Code of Good Manufacturing Practice. The Portuguese Cork Industry Association has adopted a program, Cork 2000, to help individual producers comply with the standards. An independent auditor will assess producers for accreditation under the scheme. Winemakers buying from an accredited producer can be confident in the quality of the cork they purchase. Amorim's high standards set the benchmark for the Code.
Q: As a winemaker, does it matter which manufacturer or supplier I buy my wine corks from?
A: Yes. As in all manufacturing sectors each cork producer uses its own methods. At Amorim only tried and tested procedures are employed and only the most modern equipment and technology are used in processing the cork. Systematic and detailed laboratory tests are conducted throughout production.
All the products used in Amorim's manufacturing process meet the most demanding international standards for quality, safety and contact with human food, including those of the Food and Drug Administration in the US.
Amorim & Irmaos, the largest producer in the Amorim Group, is the only fully-integrated cork producer to have achieved ISO 9002 accreditation for all stages of the production process.
A: Amorim's manufacturing procedures ensure the quality of its product on dispatch to the winemaker. However, after receiving the corks, winemakers need to handle them carefully to ensure they remain in peak condition. Care also needs to to be taken in the transporting of corks to avoid contamination and maintain the correct humidity.
Amorim provides guidelines on ordering, storing and handling of corks.
Q: What is the incidence of cork taint?
A: 'Cork taint' is a misnomer - cork itself does not affect the wine but the cork may become contaminated with TCA, a worldwide pollution affecting many food and beverage products, and this may migrate into the wine, causing taint.
There is no definitive research that accurately determines the incidence of cork-related taint, although oenological studies suggest that 2-5% of wines are affected by some sort of taint, of which cork taint is one factor.
Random sensory testing of Amorim corks in 1997 revealed that from a sample of 24,000 corks fewer than half a percentage point (0.48%) were defective. Amorim's goal is to reduce this number to zero.
Q: Can wine be affected by TCA only through the cork?
A: No. TCA is often referred to as cork taint; this wrongly suggests the cork is the sole cause of TCA. However, TCA can be found in bottled water, wine bottled with screw caps, beer, spirits, soft drink, packaged food products and even raisins. TCA in wine may be due to:
- Contaminated oak barrels or corks
- Contaminated winery machinery or bottling equipment
- Airborne moulds in the winery environs
- Moulds in transport containers or the home cellar
Q: Is all wine spoilage caused by TCA?
A: No. There are no definitive figures on TCA contamination. TCA is only one type of wine spoilage. Some types of wine spoilage that are sometimes wrongly identified as cork taint.
Q: Is it true that cork taint is caused by the widespread use of pesticides in the 1950s and 60s?
A: Some researchers believe the historical use of pesticides containing compounds such as pentachlorophenol may be contrbuting to the TCA problem. However, these chemicals have not been used for maintenance of the cork forests for many years. Amorim has purchasing records going back 40 years to help it identify where the best quality cork comes from. Amorim's manufacturing process is designed to thoroughly clean cork of all contaminants.
Q: How do champagne corks differ from natural cork?
A: Champagne corks are made from a single moulding of high-quality natural granulated cork, giving it uniform physical and mechanical characteristics. At one end these corks have two or three discs of fine natural cork. Natural corks are punched whole from the best quality cork bark.
A: Twin Top® corks are known as technical corks to distinguish them from natural straight corks, which are punched in one piece from the bark . Technical corks are assembled from granulated cork. The Twin Top® cork has discs of fine natural cork at either end and a granulated cork body made from high-grade natural cork left over after cork punching.
Q: Is there a world shortage of cork?
A: There is enough cork in the cork forests of Portugal to last more than 100 years. The introduction of new products such as Twin Top® corks for commercial wines allows even better utilisation of existing cork resources. A reforestation program means that the forests are growing by four per cent a year.
Q: Are the cork trees cut down to obtain the material to produce wine corks?
A: No. To harvest the cork, the outer bark is stripped from the tree once every nine years and the tree regenerates the bark. The cork industry is environmentally friendly and truly sustainable. Cork trees are only removed when they become decrepit with age or to reduce overcrowding.
A: "Colmated corks are made from lower-grade natural cork with larger lenticels or structural imperfections. After punching, the corks are coated with a mixture of fine cork particles and natural latex to seal the surface of the cork and improve its performance as a wine stopper."
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