Today, the six-month 'seasoning' of the cork bark is undertaken at Amorim's plants rather than in the forest. The bark planks are stored on an incline, with improved circulation and drainage. Cork that comes in contact with the ground during seasoning is used for flooring and insulation materials.

From this point, all cork that is destined for wine stoppers is moved about the factory on stainless steel pallets.

After seasoning, the cork planks are boiled in water for 60 minutes to remove impurities and make the bark more pliable.

The new Amorim boiling process (introduced in 2000 at a high-tech plant at Pont de Sôr and in 2001 at Coruche) utilises better water circulation and more even temperature distribution to enhance the extraction of contaminants.

The system also filters out suspended solids and evaporates volatile compounds from washwaters using the CONVEX (continuous volatile extraction) process.

Because of the lower humidity content of the cork under the new boiling process, the cork planks need only be left to stabilise for three days (instead of three weeks), thereby reducing the risk of mould growth considerably.

Another recent Amorim innovation is a stabilisation chamber in which the cork planks are stored in a sterile, ozone-controlled atmosphere and gradually rehumidified.

During the stablisation period, the planks become flatter and reach their optimum humidity for processing. Each plank's border is then prepared and its edges trimmed before an initial manual grading. The planks are sorted into quality categories based on their thickness, porosity and appearance.

Planks that contain faults are eliminated and granulated for use in other non-stopper cork products.

Only the best quality planks are chosen for whole stoppers and discs for champagne and Twin Top® corks. The side portions that are not used, become re-work material that is granulated to make the bodies of champagne and Twin Top® corks.

At this stage, the planks are sliced into strips slightly wider than the length of a cork. These strips are punched along the grain of the bark. An automatic machine can punch 45,000 corks a day. The best quality bark is still punched by skilled workers, who can punch 20,000 corks in a day.

At this point the process varies depending on whether the factory is processing granules, discs or whole cork.

For example, the discs used in Twin Top® and SPARK® champagne corks are put through Amorim's exclusive INOS II washing system. Cork granules, on the other hand, are subject to the revolutionary new ROSA steam cleaning process, which will in time be extended to all cork products.

Following these processes, whole corks and assembled technical corks are polished to ensure the ends are regular and the stopper is the length required. Again, they are washed, this time in hydrogen peroxide, which disinfects the stoppers and homogenises the surface, ensuring they are suitable for contact with wine.

This stage is completed with the corks being dried in ovens with sterilised air up to a level of six to eight per cent humidity. They are then ready for sorting and finishing. As part of its strict quality control regime, Amorim selects samples at each stage for exhaustive laboratory testing.