China a key to sustained growth for cork industry
The continuing development of China as a major consumer of wine is seeing the nation emerge as an important player in the sustained growth of the cork industry.
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French winemakers speak out on cork
French winemakers Sandrine Garbay of Château d’Yquem and Philippe Guigal of E. Guigal have joined a group of French wine industry professionals speaking out on the virtues of natural cork wine closures on the Planete Liege website. Watch the interviews on the following links:

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Sandrine Garbay of Château d’Yquem
Philippe Guigal of E.Guigal

OIV recognises environmental benefits of cork
The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) has passed a resolution defining the principles of an international greenhouse gas accounting protocol and in the process has officially recognised the role of natural cork closures in reducing greenhouse gases.
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Extensive reach for 100% Cork
100% Cork has announced that its campaign to educate US consumers about the technical, social and environmental benefits of natural cork wine closures has achieved several significant milestones.
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Support for cork recycling in UK
Support for cork recycling is growing in the UK with the work of the I Love Natural Cork campaign having a major impact.

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A “return to cork” declared at Vinexpo
Leading cork producers have declared a “return to cork” during the recent Vinexpo exhibition, citing strong sales figures for natural cork wine stoppers throughout 2010 and positive signs in the first quarter of 2011.
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Green credentials highlighted in latest report
The environmental record and initiatives of the world’s leading manufacturer of natural cork products, Amorim, have been highlighted in the company’s fifth Sustainability Report.
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Corticeira Amorim 2010 Sustainability Report

No screwcaps: an artist’s view
An artist and restaurateur based at St Thomas on the US Virgin Islands is protesting against the use of alternative wine closures through his art. Tony Romano has presented a series of artworks compiled over three years in an exhibition he calls ‘No Screw Caps’.

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Wineries in USA grow with cork
Premium wineries in the US are continuing to increase their use of natural cork closures, with brands using cork again showing higher sales volume and greater revenue growth in recent sales data from A.C. Nielsen.
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Sealed for the future
Cork stoppers play an important role in the development of bottled wine through managed micro-oxygenation. That is the conclusion of the latest Bordeaux University research on the oxygen transmission rates (OTR) of different closures published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
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Amorim helps preserve 200-year-old champagne
Amorim has played a major role in the preservation of 200-year-old champagne discovered at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Amorim’s technical team developed new corks and advised on the delicate task of replacing the old ones after 168 bottles were recovered from a shipwreck.

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Amorim achieves wine cork sales record
Amorim has announced record annual sales, with more than 3 billion wine stoppers sold in 2010. The company posted a sales volume increase of 13.8 per cent, further consolidating its position as the world’s largest supplier of wine stoppers.
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Grammy Awards embrace natural cork
In keeping with a commitment to develop its sustainability initiatives, events at the 2011 Grammy Awards served wine sealed exclusively with natural cork. And ReCORK by Amorim, a US recycling program, has arranged the recycling of all natural corks extracted at the events.
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Amorim seals £100,000 whisky
Corticeira Amorim has revealed that it provided the premium corks used to seal the world’s most expensive whisky. Only three bottles of the £100,000 Dalmore Trinitas 64 were released last month and two have already been sold to private collectors.

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UK supermarkets back Amorim’s FSC cork
Two leading supermarket chains in the United Kingdom have committed to using Amorim’s environmentally friendly FSC corks in 2010. Sainsbury’s will become the first retailer to make all its corks FSC certified, while The Co-operative Group has also committed to Amorim’s environmentally friendly natural cork closures.
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Dramatic decline in cork taint
The 2010 'world championship of wine', the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, has added further weight to evidence of a dramatic decline in cork-related wine faults. Of almost 7000 bottles opened at the prestigious event only one per cent were identified as being affected by 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA).

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Amorim seals world’s oldest whisky
Corticeira Amorim’s new Top Series® premium cork closure range is quickly making its mark at the top-end of the spirits market having been chosen to seal the world's oldest bottled single malt whisky - a 70-year-old Mortlach whisky released by Scottish merchant Gordon & MacPhail.
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World Expo pavilion a showcase for cork
The stunning Portugal Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 is a showcase for natural cork - and Amorim. Cork, supplied by Amorim, is displayed on the building’s facade, as an element of the aesthetic design, as a flooring material and in several technical solutions.

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Research validates cork’s green credentials
The environmental benefits of natural cork stoppers over alternative wine closures have been highlighted in an independent life cycle analysis released by Corticeira Amorim. The PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that carbon dioxide emissions — a key factor in global warming — resulting from the life cycle of a screwcap are 24 times higher than a natural cork stopper, while a plastic stopper is responsible for 10 times more CO2 than a natural cork.
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2008 Amorim Life Cycle Analysis Final Report (1 MB)
2008 Amorim Life Cycle Analysis Presentation (1.3 MB)
2008 Amorim Life Cycle Analysis Presentation [French] (1.6 MB)

140th year the best yet
Amorim celebrated 140 years of cork production in 2010 and did so with renewed confidence as it registered its best result in the company’s history, including a sales record for wine closures.

The figures highlight that from wine stoppers through to design and building applications, fashion and innovative new products, cork is staging a global resurgence with a new appreciation of its unique qualities.

“Cork is enjoying a renaissance,” said Corticeira Amorim’s chairman and CEO António Amorim. “There is a new understanding of its potential for many applications and recognition of the added value it brings to products in which it is used.”

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Related Material

Cork hits back, Bark to Bottle, June 2009

Dan motivates Antonio, Australia's Wine Business Magazine, February 2008

Taint-free wine corks help Amorim take on screwcaps, Bloomberg, June 4, 2007

Interview with António Amorim, Corkfacts Web Extra, June 2005

Recycling effort grows
The recycling of natural cork is gaining momentum globally due to a groundswell of support for community-based cork recycling programs.

Growing environmental awareness has led to the development of many new recycling initiatives as well as an increase in the volume of corks being processed through long-standing programs.

Cork is too useful a material to be used only once and discarded, and many wine corks are now collected for recycling into a range of other cork products.

Natural cork is an environmentally-friendly material that completely biodegrades or can be readily recycled without creating any significant secondary wastes.

Related Material

ReCORK on a strong footing, Bark to Bottle, July 2010

Cork recycling takes flight, CorkFacts, September 2009

Recycling effort grows, Bark to Bottle, June 2009