Drink Wine with Natural Cork Stoppers!
When we open a wine bottle with a natural cork, we often don’t appreciate that the cork was once a living thing, harvested from the cork oak tree, a species of evergreen oak tree found primarily in southern Portugal, southern Spain, and in northwest Africa. The trees themselves play an important role in western Mediterranean ecosystems. In a warm climate prone to forest fires, cork trees are relatively drought-resistant and fire-resistant. In the aftermath of a fire, the tree quickly regrows its branches to fill out the forest canopy, which then provides shelter that allows other forest plants and trees to begin to reproduce more easily and to restore the devastated forest.
Aside from their importance in restoring forests after fires, cork oak trees are also a critical part of the unique ecosystem of the southern Mediterranean area. They coexist with numerous other oak and pine tree species, as well as a variety of shrubs, some of which are endangered. They also have a symbiotic relationship with a large number of fungal species, such as Caesar’s Mushroom. Finally, cork oak trees also form an essential part of the habitat of several endangered species, such as the Iberian lynx and imperial eagle. They are perhaps the most critical component of the unique ecosystems of the regions in which they are found.
When searching the Internet, it is very easy to learn that cork oak trees are not in any way endangered: there is a more than adequate supply of cork for the world’s needs. But that calculation completely misses the point. 90% of all cork trees are held in private commercial forests. Although cork has multiple uses, 75% of all cork harvested is used for wine stoppers. This means that, if the wine industry’s demand for cork declines, forests would almost certainly be “repurposed” to produce some other agricultural product, with potentially devastating consequences for Mediterranean ecosystems. The issue here is not the supply of cork, but the demand for it.
Over the last several decades, parts of the wine industry have increasingly adopted metal screw tops and either plant-based or petroleum-based synthetic cork stoppers. The reason is cost: the price of non-cork alternatives ranges from about 10 to 25 cents, while natural cork ranges from about 75 cents to two dollars. The non-cork alternatives have all have an adverse ecological impact (they are not biodegradable; aluminum screw caps originate from bauxite strip mines, and screw cap liners are not recyclable; most synthetic corks are not biodegradable and not easily recyclable). In addition, screw cap liners may post health risks, and plastic-based corks may adversely affect the flavor of wine (which in turn suggests that chemicals from the plastic have leached into the wine, posing a potential health risk).
All of this suggests that one small step that those of us who drink wine regularly can take to preserve a valuable and unique ecosystem is to purchase wine that uses ecologically sustainable stoppers, and especially stoppers made from natural cork.