Rival wine stoppers hit cork exports
Source: Agencies |
August 1, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN the centuries-old cork forests of southern Portugal, locals don't think much of the rival plastic stoppers and metal screwcaps threatening their livelihoods.
"Cork is a safer bet," said Joao Simoes, 64, as he peels the bark off a cork oak - a job he's been doing for the past 40 years. "It seals (bottles) better."
Some of the world's leading winemakers disagree. Since the turn of the century they have used more and more alternative stoppers in an unprecedented threat for the economy of Portugal, the world's largest cork producer.
Portugal supplies about half of global cork production, and the spongy bark is a major export earner for a national economy that's floundering.
The first decade of the new century was grim for the cork sector. Exports fell to below 700 million euros (US$1.01 billion) in 2009 from just over 900 million euros in 2002.
The challenge to Portugal's dominance came from the other side of the globe.
Winemakers in Australia and New Zealand were unhappy about what they said was the inconsistent quality of cork stoppers and occasional "cork taint" the sour, musty taste that spoils a wine and is widely blamed on chemical interaction with the cork. It's what people refer to when they say a bottle of wine is "corked."
Most New World producers, who export much of their wine to Britain and the United States, converted to synthetic closures and screwcaps. Some producers on other continents followed suit.
Wine experts gave their endorsement for the switch. One anti-cork group staged a mock funeral in New York featuring a cork stopper in a casket.
The Portuguese government, aware the industry is too big to fail, declared its survival "a national cause."
The War of the Stoppers had begun.
In a key victory, the cork business earned green credentials from the World Wildlife Fund, which applauded the industry for being renewable, sustainable and environment-friendly.
The cork oak's bark is pried off roughly every nine years, when the inner lining is able to withstand exposure. This happens in a regular cycle for more than a century with each tree.
In the hushed forests around Coruche, about 100 kilometers northeast of Lisbon, small teams of skilled workers zig-zag across the sandy soil and pale, wispy grass in search of trees ready for harvest.
"I don't know what people around here would do without cork," said Simoes, the cork harvester.
"Cork is a safer bet," said Joao Simoes, 64, as he peels the bark off a cork oak - a job he's been doing for the past 40 years. "It seals (bottles) better."
Some of the world's leading winemakers disagree. Since the turn of the century they have used more and more alternative stoppers in an unprecedented threat for the economy of Portugal, the world's largest cork producer.
Portugal supplies about half of global cork production, and the spongy bark is a major export earner for a national economy that's floundering.
The first decade of the new century was grim for the cork sector. Exports fell to below 700 million euros (US$1.01 billion) in 2009 from just over 900 million euros in 2002.
The challenge to Portugal's dominance came from the other side of the globe.
Winemakers in Australia and New Zealand were unhappy about what they said was the inconsistent quality of cork stoppers and occasional "cork taint" the sour, musty taste that spoils a wine and is widely blamed on chemical interaction with the cork. It's what people refer to when they say a bottle of wine is "corked."
Most New World producers, who export much of their wine to Britain and the United States, converted to synthetic closures and screwcaps. Some producers on other continents followed suit.
Wine experts gave their endorsement for the switch. One anti-cork group staged a mock funeral in New York featuring a cork stopper in a casket.
The Portuguese government, aware the industry is too big to fail, declared its survival "a national cause."
The War of the Stoppers had begun.
In a key victory, the cork business earned green credentials from the World Wildlife Fund, which applauded the industry for being renewable, sustainable and environment-friendly.
The cork oak's bark is pried off roughly every nine years, when the inner lining is able to withstand exposure. This happens in a regular cycle for more than a century with each tree.
In the hushed forests around Coruche, about 100 kilometers northeast of Lisbon, small teams of skilled workers zig-zag across the sandy soil and pale, wispy grass in search of trees ready for harvest.
"I don't know what people around here would do without cork," said Simoes, the cork harvester.
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