Cork Stoppers
Cork is a wonder of nature. It is the privilege of a single tree in the world: the cork oak, a tree present over vast territories located mainly to the west of the Mediterranean basin and on the southern Atlantic coast of Europe. Before producing cork destined to become a cork, the cork oak must be patient.
From 30 to 35 years are indeed necessary before its trunk begins to produce quality cork... After debarking, called "lifting", this cork undergoes many transformations: storage in parks, boiling, sorting, tubing, washing , dusting, marking, surface treatment, controls throughout the production process... before ending up in the cellar then on the tables, small or large... Flexible enough to penetrate the neck, elastic to regain its shape and effectively seal bottles, a 100% natural and recyclable product, its organoleptic qualities make the cork stopper the ideal partner for wine like no other...
A profession that is organized and committed, research & development at the state-of-the-art technology with significant investments implemented to improve and secure the quality of the finished product, winegrowers, glassmakers and bottlers stakeholders stakeholders, consumers who acclaim its u use; the cork stopper is in perpetual motion... Each year, nearly 12 billion cork stoppers are made from the simple bark of a tree already venerated in Antiquity... Yet so many stories, legends, sophisticated techniques deployed but also preconceived ideas surround this product with multiple facets and unsuspected qualities...
THE CORK OAK, A UNIQUE TREE, A VERY LONG HISTORY…
For centuries, the natural cork stopper has been cork's most faithful ambassador. This stopper with exceptional qualities is still today the favorite and the most requested by both winegrowers, bottlers and consumers.
A recent survey carried out in April 2010 highlights the attachment of French consumers in their vast majority to the cork stopper: • 96.3% of those questioned declare that the cork stopper perpetuates a traditional know-how, • 89.3% prefer to offer a bottle corked with a cork stopper, • 89.8% declare that the cork stopper preserves all the aromas of the wine, • 85% know that the cork stopper is a natural product…
A story several thousand years old…
In the year 3000 BC, cork was already used in China, Egypt, Babylon and Persia for the manufacture of objects for fishing. In Italy, remains of cork-based objects dating from the 4th century BC have been found. It was also at this time that the Greek philosopher Theophrastus mentions, amazed, in his treatises "the faculty that this tree possesses by renewing its bark when it is removed".
Wine and cork are two products that have complemented each other for a long time. This is proven by an amphora dating from the 1st century BC found in Ephesus; it was blocked by a cork and still contained traces of wine...
THE CORK OAK FOREST
Cork oak forests develop from sea level up to 500 m in altitude in regions with a hot and humid climate located in the Mediterranean basin, more particularly in the southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula subject to the influences of the Atlantic Ocean. In terms of precipitation, the annual average varies between 600 and 800 mm.
Cork oak forests (also called cork oak forests) represent an area of more than 2.27 million hectares worldwide. They are mainly distributed in the following countries: Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France.
Cork recycling ideas
A natural choice is to use the wine theme to use the corks in a new way that is still tied to your drinking habits. The blogger who writes Heart Made and her husband collected corks from the bottles she was drinking, glued them to the bottom of a thin cork, cut them according to shape and made a set of drinking coasters out of them.
A cork stamp with a heart
This design requires a lot of precision, but if you have good hands you can create corks with a custom set of punches. In this case, it is not necessary to collect a large amount of corks, one festive meal is enough to start the craft. Some show you how to cut the end of a cork and make various shapes out of it that you can use to DIY with kids or to create and enhance greeting cards.
Leave a message on the cork stoppers
Some blog had a creative design that started with a decorative frame purchased to frame wedding photos, but its oval shape didn't fit any photos. The failure turned out to be a success when it was decided to create something different from the frame. To do this, they painted the frame, filled it with diagonally stacked corks instead of a picture, and created a surprising and creative notice board.
Cork Stoppers Production
After debarking, the cork boards are stacked at specific locations in the processing plants. They will be exposed to the open air, sun and rain for at least 6 months. All stacks are rolled according to precise and very strict rules set out in the famous International Code of Cork Practices. During this dormant period, the raw material matures and the cork stabilizes. These boards are then sorted according to their visual quality and thickness. It is during this sorting that boards with major defects are eliminated.
Boiling
Cooking boards is one of the most important steps in cork preparation. As the name suggests, the boards are immersed in clean boiling water for a minimum of an hour.
After cooking, the cork stabilizes. Only after this period, which lasts from 1 to 3 days, the boards are selected. This rest time serves to flatten the boards and allow them to be dimensionally stabilized. Once stabilized, the cork boards are cut into strips slightly larger than the length of the plug produced. Then they are perforated with a tuber. This step can be manual or semi-automatic. The cookie cutter allows you to obtain the famous cylinder with such a familiar shape.
Correction and selection
After the casing, the corks are reworked to get the exact dimensions you want. After production, we go to automatic sorting or visual inspection. The corks are then classified into several categories according to their appearance and the number of spiracles (cork pores on the surface).
Washing, drying and sealing
After rectification, the stoppers are washed and disinfected, then dried and possibly sealed. This last step is to fill the spirochete with a mixture of glue and cork powder made by rectifying natural corks. It improves the appearance of plugs and, above all, better sealing. Then we go to the stage of customization according to the customer's specification. You can mark with ink or fire.
Surface treatment
The stoppers are treated with paraffin and / or silicone to facilitate consumer insertion and uncorking.
Packaging
The only thing left to do is pack in bags with conditioning gas. This is necessary to avoid an environment conducive to bacterial growth. This is the last stage in the production of corks, which are then sent to the bottling plant.
Cork Stoppers
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