Are you one of those winos who love to collect the corks?  Maybe you fill up a glass bowl or a basket and display them like art in your wine cellar… GAC (Guilty as Charged), or maybe you glue them to a board and hang them on the wall or use them as potholders.  Yeah, you know who you are and you can’t hide.  If you have a collection started then you already know that corks come in all shapes, sizes, colors and materials.  Hopefully, you’re not saving those screwcaps too.

Initially, all corks were, and many still are, made from natural cork from a cork tree, primarily the Quercus suber (Cork Oak).  There are about 5.5 million acres of cork forest worldwide with about 1/3rd growing in Portugal and about a quarter in Spain, while just over half of the actual cork production is from Portugal and 33% from Spain.  Cork is harvested from the trunk once the trees reach 25 years old and then every 9 years after that.  It is interesting to note that a cork tree can live to be about 200 years old.

There are 9 grades of natural wine corks based on the quality, which is measured by the quantity and size of pores of the natural cork.  Then, the other two enclosure options are synthetic corks and the screw cap.  So, why the hell would you care?  You can’t even see the cork under the foil until you’re ready to open the bottle!  You might be an old school romantic who must have a cork to pop, or maybe you care about the planet and know that natural cork is biodegradable and the aluminum on the screw cap or the plastic on the synthetic is not.  In reality, the winery most likely chooses the type of enclosure based on cost, aging potential of the wine and appeal, meaning the romantic part. 

(L to R) Natural, Synthetic (2), Agglomerated w/ and w/o disc ends

Various sources state that about 2-5% of all wine bottles go bad due to air entering the bottle from poor enclosures.  That can add up to a lot of money for a winemaker pretty  fast.  And along with 9 different grades of cork, there are 9 different pricing levels.  And even the screw cap isn’t perfect — I got a “corked” bottle of Viognier that had a screw cap just recently –  speaking of “corked”, TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) or “cork taint” is NOT caused by the cork at all, however, the cork itself can become contaminated with TCA, like many other food and beverage products, and will thus transmit the taint to the wine.  Wines that are expected to age actually benefit from the very minute amount of air that slips through the pores of natural cork, but you better use a cork that can last 10-20 years or more.  Holey wood, Batman!  That’s sooo confusing.

I say don’t worry about it, focus on the wine that you like regardless of its enclosure… I don’t even notice much any more.  Unless you become a winemaker one day and need to count your pennies, it doesn’t seem to be a really big deal, but DO continue to to collect your baskets full of tree periderm and send in your pictures, you Dork!