From Science News: Wine corks may owe quality to gene activity
Discovery that distinguishes superior stoppers could help reverse global downturn
Even the most superb wine won’t last without its cork, but the quality of this renewable oaken resource has nose-dived in recent years. A new genetic study of trees that produce high- and low-quality cork divulges some clues behind this decline, hinting at a possible link to climate change.
A great cork safeguards a wine’s taste and its aging process, while inferior cork can taint the vino’s flavor. Cork is made from the protective outer layer of bark surrounding Quercus suber oak trees, which grow only in southwest Europe and northwest Africa. But the global supply of cork, a $2 billion industry, has faced problems with quality and competition. Synthetic wine stoppers and metal caps offer a cheap alternative and have boomed in popularity in recent years, but oaken corks are still preferred by wine aficionados.
More here: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/wine-corks-may-owe-quality-gene-activity
Some inconvenient FAQs on Corks:
Q. Isn’t there a cork shortage?
A. No in fact, based upon current estimates there is enough cork to close all wine bottles produced in the world, for the next 100 years. The cork forests are now being more sustainably managed than ever before in their history and new planting is always ongoing.
Q. What’s wrong with screw caps and plastic closures?
A. Screw caps are not made from a sustainable product; they are not actively being recycled in the US and are not biodegradable. In comparison to a natural cork, 24 times more greenhouse gasses are released and over and 10 times more energy is used when making one screw cap.
Plastic closures are made from petro-chemicals, are not biodegradable and are rarely recycled. They are not sourced from a sustainable product and produce 10 times more greenhouse gasses than natural cork to produce.
More: http://www.corkforest.org/faq_cork_facts.php
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I’m amazed that I heard Shepard Smith on Fox News (yesterday) attribute the cold temperatures in the midwest to “a thing climate change, have you heard of that?” Right. There’s no evidence at all that this cold is the result of global warming. It’s insane in fact, and this guy is on the supposed “fair and balanced” channel but is reporting just complete unsubstantiated hogwash. I mean, Fox is supposed to at least lean conservative, but to take an extreme position that the cold is caused by heat? I heard Shepard Smith might have some issues.
Not a word about how much more expensive cork stoppers compared to others. The cork bark is difficult to work plus they can taint (as in contaminate) some wines. If you need to bottle other beverages, such as whiskeys, on the same bottling line, you run into engineering issues when you switch. The boxes the bottles are shipped must be stronger and care must be taken regarding how how they can be stacked. All in all, cork stoppers are just plain more expensive.
Waitaminnit… I’m confused. They’re claiming that “Cork quality has been decreasing over the years”, “hinting at a possible link to climate change.” But then they say, “Good cork had a higher abundance of heat-shock proteins, which help other proteins form their correct shapes even under stressful conditions. Heat-shock proteins also aid cellular division, permitting the growth of thicker bark. Previous studies have found that heat-shock proteins guard cork trees from ultraviolet light, high temperatures and drought — all of which have steadily become bigger problems in Portugal over the last century.”
So we’re getting inferior cork because global warming is causing trees to produce better cork?
And they base all this on one-time sampling from ten trees?
Well… I suppose it’s better than just looking at one Yamal tree.
Got news for you, Anthony, about where cork oaks grow. My grandfather planted one next to the house here in western Washington in the 1940’s and today it is HUGE. As it was never trimmed to provide cork, it has multiple branches and requires often drastic pruning to keep it under control.
By “multiple branches, I meant not only branches but twinned trunks.
GOOD! Maybe now they will begin selling it by the barrel. This one bottle at a time is for the birds!
She said without a bit of vice in her.
Even if true, who other than a bunch of effete metrosexual .001%ers gives a flying cork?
they can be stacked. All in all, cork stoppers are just plain more expensive.
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger says:
July 16, 2014 at 12:03 pm
Waitaminnit… I’m confused. They’re claiming that “Cork quality has been decreasing over the years”, “hinting at a possible link to climate change.” But then they say, “Good cork had a higher abundance of heat-shock proteins, which help other proteins form their correct shapes even under stressful conditions. Heat-shock proteins also aid cellular division, permitting the growth of thicker bark. Previous studies have found that heat-shock proteins guard cork trees from ultraviolet light, high temperatures and drought — all of which have steadily become bigger problems in Portugal over the last century.”
So we’re getting inferior cork because global warming is causing trees to produce better cork?
And they base all this on one-time sampling from ten trees?
Well… I suppose it’s better than just looking at one Yamal tree.
I think that the study of 12 trees likely indicated that for 11 of 12 the cork did better under stress but 1 tree produced the inferior cork. Like Yamal, this 1 tree is the source of the Doom and Gloom
@ur momisugly Eric Simpson –
I think you might want to recalibrate your irony-meter.
@ur momisugly Harold
It’s not just effete metrosexuals. Us hard-core drunks like wine, too.
Screw caps are becoming very popular in the restaruant/bar business due to the simplicity of use and storage. For those who do not consume an entire bottle at opening, such as my 69 year old mother, screw caps are perfect. Personally, cork affected by climate change is just another way of validating price increases…its that old follow the money thing.
Well we won’t see any comedy in future.
Eric Simpson says:
July 16, 2014 at 12:00 pm
==================================
CNN and CBS, both had articles on how the recent typhoon Neoguri made changes to the jetstream, which then caused this cold drop into the US…http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/11/us/weather/index.html#comment-1480799379
I buy wine in bulk, in 5 liters Tetra Brik packages that come with a plastic faucet at the bottom. One of those with a rubber bubble you press and the wine drains off the Brik. The local Red Rioja wine goes for around $10 (7 €) at the farmers market. Since the Brik is too bulky to put it on the table, I have a bottle with a recycled cork which I refill every 3 – 4 days.
That kind of packaging is gaining popularity around here.
In days-gone-by I helped out at a premium winery in Western Australia and commented that they were using plastic ‘corks’ not wooden ones. I was told that the failure rate of corks (by failure, they meant allowing air to pass through and spoil the wine) was such that they were spending more on a special plastic stopper because they wanted to keep their good name for consistent quality. They admitted that screw caps were by far the best option, but that no-one would pay premium prices for wine in screw-capped bottles, whatever the quality of the wine.
What I have noted recently, however, is that more and more premium priced wines are on the shelves with a screw cap, suggesting that people are not as snooty any more. I think the wine-buying public are getting a bit more savvy these days that you don’t always get better wine by paying more money.
Boxed wine. Problem solved.
Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner here. “Deteriorating wine corks” is not currently listed as one of the many things caused by global warming.
Don Pardo, please tell our contestant what he’s won …
I see a new time-waster here, the “Warming Whack” contest, similar to Googlewhack, where you try to find some dire consequence not already linked to Global Warming. Winners get a research grant.
Messed up on of the links. The comprehensive list of all things linked to Global Warming is here:
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
Well cork is also a highly preferred material to make the handles of fishing rods, specially good fly rods. No substitute even comes close.
But these days, all you can buy to make rods, is crap; full of large voids, and easily broken.
The properties that make cork ideal for wine stoppers, also makes the best fly rod handles. Can’t buy fly rod corks (rings) anywhere near as good as the average wine bottle cork.
But fly rods don’t amount to a hill of beans, compared to wine corks.
“It’s Worse Than We Thought” [TM]
Years ago I did volunteer work for a women’s rights organization ’cause I thought it might be a great way to meet a sophisticated young woman. Now, for those of you who haven’t ripped their insides to shreds in laughing at what I just wrote, let me assure you that women do not; repeat – do not; join women’s rights organizations with the intention of meeting a man.
Anyway, it was a non-partisan organization but very politically involved. And we (or, should I say all the women in the organization and their mascot male – me) were at a high falutin’ big bucks political rally at a high priced gallery on Chicago’s near north side. The big shots were all there including a mayoral candidate from the city’s top Irish law firm, congressional reps, you name it. Anyway, rather than allow their mascot male, me, to embarrass the organization they figured, since they knew I’d had plenty of experience with alcohol, they’d plant me safely behind a bar doing bartender duty. How hard could it be, they thought? How hard could it be, I thought? Little did I know that opening a corked bottle of wine was quite a bit different than opening a can of beer. Little did they know that the one task they thought I wouldn’t embarrass them doing was also one in which I could excel at that as well.
I have little doubt that the deterioration in wine cork quality can be attributed to the reduced use of wine corks compared to screw tops and, unlike a rising tide that lifts all boats, it’s a case of rising embarrassment sinks all corks. Blame it on me. Not global warming.
LeeHarvey says:
July 16, 2014 at 12:44 pm
@ur momisugly Harold
It’s not just effete metrosexuals. Us hard-core drunks like wine, too.
—–
But you drunks won’t know the difference between a designer pre-industrial artisanal cork and an industrial anthropocene GMO cork.
No corks left here in Australia. Once wine drinkers got used to screwcaps the winemakers fell over themselves to change over.
Just shows how the climateers are behind the curve again. Nearly 18 years of no global warming and they are moaning that global warming will endanger our corks?
Well there is not global warming here in Oz, there are no corks and very soon there will be no carbon tax.
@Mark and two Cats: “cork soakers”. Yeah, I got it, ROFLMAO!
Yep, Bruce, the demise of corks couldn’t have come soon enough for me! Horrible things – I shudder to remember the ones that disintegrated as you tried to get them out, meaning that your wine (when you finally were able to get to it) was sprinkled with tiny, irremovable bits of cork.
The Stelvin cap is one of the great inventions of my lifetime. And it makes resealing a partly consumed bottle a breeze, which both home users and restaurants that sell by the glass appreciate.
The single biggest threat to cork plantations is property development.