4 ms·

I thought that the growing amount of twist-off's was due to cork tree going extinct, but it appears that the production of corks doesn't harm the tree. Any thou

by pav3l 14y ago

I thought that the growing amount of twist-off's was due to cork tree going extinct, but it appears that the production of corks doesn't harm the tree. Any thoughts?

arturventura 14y ago
No. Removing cork only removes the outer layer of the tree and doesn't harm the tree. 9 years the cork is removed (and it must be removed or the cork goes bad) and a new one grows uup.
pilom 14y ago
I had heard that there was a combination of a blight on cork trees and a huge increase in demand of wine corks but I don't have any good sources. Anybody else know more?
victoro 14y ago
I thought I heard about there being a cork shortage as well, after googling around it seems that this may be an urban myth. Even Cork conservation sites say there is no cork shortage [1]. Looks like twist-offs/plastic corks etc. may just be around because they are cheaper than natural corks at current market prices. Would be interesting to see how the production and demand for plastic vs. natural corks swings with the price of petroleum or other chemicals necessary for plastics production. [1] http://www.corkforest.org/faq_cork_facts.php http://www.corkforest.org/faq_cork_facts.php
- pav3l 14y ago
  Back when I waited tables, whenever a customer would doubt the quality of wine because it's a twist-off, we were supposed to tell them that it's a "green thing", and a lot of good wineries are getting away from the cork for environmental reasons. Well, looks like it's just cutting costs with some clever marketing.
- splat 14y ago
  Cork also has the problem that it can occasionally spoil the wine. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint) My understanding is that twist-off caps are strictly better for wine, but the inertia of tradition has kept most wines sealed with cork. (It doesn't help that cheaper wines were the first to switch and so twist-off caps became associated with cheap wine.)
- jt2190 14y ago
  I believe that wine production has expanded worldwide, so the overall demand for cork much higher now, while the supply hasn't grown much at all.

by pav3l 14y ago

I thought that the growing amount of twist-off's was due to cork tree going extinct, but it appears that the production of corks doesn't harm the tree. Any thoughts?

arturventura 14y ago

No. Removing cork only removes the outer layer of the tree and doesn't harm the tree. 9 years the cork is removed (and it must be removed or the cork goes bad) and a new one grows uup.

pilom 14y ago

I had heard that there was a combination of a blight on cork trees and a huge increase in demand of wine corks but I don't have any good sources. Anybody else know more?

victoro 14y ago

I thought I heard about there being a cork shortage as well, after googling around it seems that this may be an urban myth. Even Cork conservation sites say there is no cork shortage [1]. Looks like twist-offs/plastic corks etc. may just be around because they are cheaper than natural corks at current market prices. Would be interesting to see how the production and demand for plastic vs. natural corks swings with the price of petroleum or other chemicals necessary for plastics production. [1] http://www.corkforest.org/faq_cork_facts.php http://www.corkforest.org/faq_cork_facts.php

pav3l 14y ago
Back when I waited tables, whenever a customer would doubt the quality of wine because it's a twist-off, we were supposed to tell them that it's a "green thing", and a lot of good wineries are getting away from the cork for environmental reasons. Well, looks like it's just cutting costs with some clever marketing.
splat 14y ago
Cork also has the problem that it can occasionally spoil the wine. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint) My understanding is that twist-off caps are strictly better for wine, but the inertia of tradition has kept most wines sealed with cork. (It doesn't help that cheaper wines were the first to switch and so twist-off caps became associated with cheap wine.)
jt2190 14y ago
I believe that wine production has expanded worldwide, so the overall demand for cork much higher now, while the supply hasn't grown much at all.