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ARTICLE

History, Production, TCA Issues & Solutions
Story By Bob Ecker
Photographs By: fellow travelers Bob Ecker, Mike Walsh, Roger Archey

Portugal:
Portugal, at the far southwestern corner of Europe has been producing wine for a long, long time. Vineyard planting really took off after the Reconquista, which ended in 1249, where the Portuguese and Spanish took back the lands from the anti-alcohol Moors. The rise of wine and the symbiotic Portuguese cork as an efficient bottle closure has been of vital interest to the Portuguese economy, as well as the International Wine industry today.

WHAT IS CORK?
First of all, you may ask, what exactly IS cork and where does it come from? Cork is a natural product that comes from the thick bark of a Cork Oak, or technically, the Quercus suber L. tree. These trees are related to others such as beech and chestnut, yet no other tree on earth produces such a thick, resistant bark as the Quercus. These trees have their roots, quite literally in the Mediterranean and are still harvested in Spain, North Africa and Italy. You may even see a few Cork Oaks here and there in California. But Portugal by far, leads the way in the husbandry of the trees and production of cork. Today Portugal produces more than 50% of the world's output of cork products, and employs over 60,000 people in this industry. Wine closures comprise Cork's most visible role, but the product is also used in shoes, gaskets, flooring, paneling and many other industrial uses.

Click on Image for caption and to enlarge

HISTORY:
Although the product has been around forever, cork has a long and colorful history indelibly linked to wine. Pierre “Dom" Perignon, (born in 1638) a Benedictine Monk at the Abbey of Hautville near Riems, experimented with sparkling wines in the latter part of the Seventeenth century. Though some were produced before him, Dom Perignon's work produced a standard and process for the production of Champagne, and also established the use of cork stoppers as effective closures. The entire cork industry owes a massive debt of gratitude to that wonderful monk.

ABOUT CORK TAINT:
Some years ago, the term “corked" or ruined wine became a serious economic problem to the wine industry. It was estimated that between five and eight out of every 100 wine bottles had “cork taint" and were spoiled. Most of the evidence at the time blamed the humble cork for introducing harmful elements to wine, primarily TCA, which often contaminated the final product. In the nineties, many new wine bottle closures came into being, ones whose use, it was claimed, would eliminate tainted wine. The most well known alternate closures are screw caps and synthetic corks. The worldwide wine industry seriously studied alternative closure as did the cork industry, whose main product was under serious attack. Fortunately, quite a bit of hard scientific data has been conducted on wine, corks, TCA and various types of modern closures. The results are far from complete, but recent studies suggest that the conventional cork is here to stay. "I believe the best closure for a great wine is a high quality natural cork," said Tom Selfridge, the President of Napa's Hess Collection Winery.

TCA:
TCA, what is it? TCA (2, 4, 6 Trichloroanisole) is an organically occurring chemical compound that can cause off-putting, musty, moldy odors and flavors in wine. Most people will not notice TCA unless a wine has it in high levels. Ironically TCA is found in tap water, orange juice, beer, bananas, paper and many other common products. But TCA has become a buzzword in the wine industry. Getting rid of it has been the prime challenge for the cork producers, and it appears that the problem has been solved.

THE SOLUTION:
The Cork industry and the Amorim Cork Company in particular (the single largest cork producer in the world) has thoroughly examined TCA and “cork taint" issues, and is among the world leaders in eliminating, or mitigating free TCA molecules associated with cork production. Basically, this Portuguese company has spent millions of Euros (Over $43 million invested since 2000) understanding the original problem, then rectifying, modernizing, updated, streamlining, and instituting tremendous quality control mechanisms into the production line; all the while re-educating the public regarding the most effective wine bottle closure on earth: the cork.

Visiting an Amorim cork plant is amazing. Eleven hundred people are employed at the largest Portuguese cork factory. This scientifically clean environment helps to eliminate any opportunities for TCA to infect the final, finished corks.

The cork is delivered to the factory and is stacked in the open air on a drainable cement surface to prevent contact with the earth. After 6 or more months of open air seasoning, the cork is ready for sorting and boiling.

Then, the pallets of cork are gently boiled for approximately one hour to remove organic solids and bring the moisture content to around 14%.

Next, pieces are hand sorted. In fact, only about 30% of the best wood ends up as a wine stopper. Next, pieces of bark are then cut into smaller pieces, and sorted by size, thickness and color. The pieces are sorted and cut, sorted and cut, sorted and cut. Planks go to different areas of the factory for varying types and sizes of corks. At each stage, men and women are constantly examining pieces of cork for all sorts of defects and discarding rejects. Much of that wood is recycled, used for flooring or is ground up and utilized as fuel for the plant itself.

Natural Corks are “punched," by men working a leg activated punch. Since this is an entirely natural product, the men have to look at each 15 inch piece of wood and move it slightly left or right, up or down based upon the grain and unique characteristics in the wood. Each piece of wood bark yields about 9 corks.

After the whole corks and disks are punched, they go through an extensive sorting, washing and polishing process that involves computerized photo sorting as well as careful examination by teams of trained workers. Once the cork have been graded and tested for TCA and other contaminants, they are ready for custom printing and coating. Amorim produces over 3 billion corks each year making them the largest producer of natural wine cork closures in the world.

Cork Disks used for Twin Tops and Sparkling Wine Closures

There are other closures out there, and they do have their uses, particularly for inexpensive wine products. But corks clearly do the job wonderfully, sealing wine from the elements and also allowing for trace amounts of contact between wine and oxygen, a vital link that promotes effective, slow aging of wine in the bottle. Again, Hess Selfridge is adamant. “The synthetic corks let too much air in, and screw caps let none in. Natural cork allows just the amount of air in to let the wine age well."

Simply put, cork is natural product involving careful forest management techniques, employs thousands and today utilizes state-of-the-art quality control methods that ultimately produce the type of closure I want on a wine bottle. With TCA under control, cork's elegant romance, corkscrew twist and lovely “pop" is surely the way to unquestionably enjoy a fabulous bottle of wine.

 

Other Related Links:
Cork as a Sustainable Managed Resource
Cork: History, Production, TCA Issues & Solutions
Amorim & Irmãos, S.A., Portugal's Cork Company
Quinta Nova Winery and Hotel Rural Quinta Nova
Quinta de Crasto
Green Bottles Hit Europe
Excessive Copper in Screw Capped Wine Bottles
Cheers to Willamette Valley Vineyards:
Oregon-based Winery First to Use Certified Sustainable Cork Stoppers

Fresh Seafood in Cafe In Lisbon, Portugal
Napa Valley, Vintners in Paris

 

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