Things you may not know about cork nodes of wine bottles

The cork or li-e button (liège) is made from oak bark, which has so far proved to be the best protection of wine in the world.

Not all bottles of wine in the world use cork , but they always account for the highest percentage. And around the production of these buttons there are also many interesting stories. You can find a part of the answer through the following.

Before the advent of glass bottles around 3000 BC, a cork-like material was used as a fishing gear in China and Egypt. Until 400 BC, they were found in Italy and used in buoys, shoes and roofing materials.

The cork is small but can resist the aging process of alcohol.

By the 1st century BC, a bottle of wine was found in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city and especially it was sealed with a button made of oak bark . Even so, cork is still not the last choice. In the late 17th century, French wine producers still used special materials from fabrics to make wine cork.

Later, cork bungs were used due to many different outstanding features, mainly light, waterproof, difficult to decompose, compression and high elasticity .

However, cork knot has some limitations, especially in storage because the requirement is very strict, for example, to maintain good moisture so that the node is not dry, making it difficult to open, as well as to prevent air from falling. inside, reduce quality.

Around the world today there are about 2.4 million hectares of oak plantation. And more than half of the oak harvested bark for processing wine corks comes from Portugal. Thanks to the conditions of rainfall, wind and fertility of the land, the oak forests here are quite developed. Other countries like the United States have also tried to plant this plant, but not very well. Therefore, the Mediterranean region is still considered the most important land of this plant.

Around the world today there are about 2.4 million hectares of oak plantation.

Corks are 100% sustainable and renewable when properly treated . Once the oak tree reaches maturity (25-30 years), oak can be harvested every 9 years. One or two of the first harvests, almost all of the wood bark will be of unimaginable quality, but oak can be harvested until it reaches the 200-year-old mark. Oak trees can be 6m high and have a diameter of about 40cm. When the tree gets older, there will be new trees planted instead.

When harvested, people will create small gaps on the trunk and then gradually peel away from the tree easily without causing long-term damage. The separation is only done between the beginning of May and the end of August.

Oak shells are very durable, so they often survive easily, including forest fires. They also grow quite fast.

The cork is small but can resist the aging process of alcohol, making today's wine glasses more delicious and it is associated with the wine-enjoying culture.