Oxygen permeability of closures
The closure plays a significant role in oxygen transmission during the period of storage of the wine. In a three year study carried out by the University of Bordeaux, France, the entry of oxygen [...]
Under the microscope
Cork has been meticulously analysed in various areas and in several countries. The characteristics of this 100% natural material surprise researchers interested in analysing the properties and potential of this raw material. The world wants to know more details of the behaviour of the bark of the cork oak, its performance, flexibility in new applications, the development of the industry. A world to study, a world to discover.
Performance of Different Closures
The closure plays a significant role in oxygen transmission during the period of storage of the wine. In a three year study carried out by the University of Bordeaux, France, the entry of oxygen [...]
The OIV - Office Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin recommends the use of cork stoppers in its environmental standards aimed at the wine industry. The standards consist of a universal protocol [...]
In October 2008, PricewaterhouseCoopers/Ecobilan funded an investigation on the evaluation of the environmental impacts of corks versus aluminium and plastic closures. Accordingly, the life cycle [...]
Preference studies
The consumer prefers, the producer acknowledges. Cork comes out ahead in all studies. On average, 86% of consumers around the world prefer cork and associate it with wines of quality and elegance [...]
“Twisting Tradition: Consumer’s Behavior Toward Alternative Closures" is a study of consumer perception conducted by Nelson Barber, Christopher Taylor and Tim Dodd, of Texas Teach University. [...]
The master’s degree thesis "Wine closures: An exploratory study of the attitudes and preferences of the Portuguese consumer”, by Lídia Maria Santos Moreira, Faculty of Economics of Porto [...]
The Cork project – a cork promotion campaign in Spain – conducted a study that showed 95% of Spaniards prefer cork stoppers for bottles of wine and cava. The results of the survey also show that [...]
83% of wine consumers in France prefer cork, against 7% for plastic seals and 3% for aluminium caps. The study performed by OpinionWay also shows that 88% of those surveyed say that cork is the [...]
Chinese wine consumers stated that the cork stopper is their preferred closure and that it is associated with quality wine. In a study in which those surveyed were asked to give their opinion on [...]
The cork stopper is synonymous with quality wine for Brazilian consumers. This is the main conclusion of a study in Brazil by the market research company Conecta, in partnership with Ibope - [...]
According to a study conducted by GFK (a market research company), 86% of Italians consider cork stoppers to be the best closure to ensure the quality of the wine. This percentage increases to [...]
93% of American wine consumers state that cork represents "high quality" while 50% say that aluminium caps are associated with low quality wine.
The cork stopper raises the average price of the wine and is a strong selling point. The data from ACNielsen, concerning the market share for cork finished wines are up 17.5% - from 47.2% to [...]
Evolution of the Industry Studies of the sector
O setor da cortiça foi alvo de análise num estudo promovido pela Central de Balanços, do Banco de Portugal. Sob o tema “Análise das empresas dos setores da madeira, da cortiça e do papel”, o [...]
"Cork in the Parliamentary Debates of the Portuguese Nation - 1839-1899" is the title of the book recently published by the historian Nuno Silva, who holds a master's degree in Contemporary [...]
The goal of the "Women and Cork" project is to recognise the work of women in the sector. This initiative is intended to recognise the identity of women, aiming to relate the experience of women [...]
The goal of the project of Promocork was to study and publicize the life and work of one of the most notable institutions of the cork sector in the 20th century, the National Cork Board. A book [...]
Joaquim Vieira da Natividade was the first major scholar of the cork oak and growing it. A book was published to celebrate this fact and a site about the life of this engineer and director of the [...]
The Portuguese Competition Authority published a report that intends to describe the functioning of the cork sector in Portugal, from the extraction of raw materials to the marketing of the [...]
"The economics of the cork sector in Portugal: Development of production and processing activities throughout the 19th and 20th centuries” is written by the Professor of the Catholic University, [...]
“The cork processing industry in Santa Maria de Lamas in the 1950s and 1960s” is the title of a thesis by two students on one of the regions where the industry is strongly rooted. The affirmation [...]
"The export business of Cork in Spain and Portugal during the 20th century: Changes and public interventions” is the title of the PhD thesis of the researcher Francisco Manuel Parejo Moruno, at [...]
Cork Oak and Cork Oak Forest Studies
Researchers have been drawn to studying the cork oak forest and cork in its many different facets with the aim of working to achieve more cork oak forest and more and better cork. Discovering the [...]
Green Living, by the RSPB, of the United Kingdom, warns that the use of artificial closures is a threat to the cork oak forests of southern Europe, as well as to the people and wildlife that [...]
WWW – World Wide Fund for Nature - works in a number of areas and the protection of the unique natural heritage of the Mediterranean cork oak forests is one of its fields of action. It published [...]
UNAC – Mediterranean Forest Union (www.unac.pt) has one of the results of the "Corknow-how: Networked Cork Knowledge", project available. This is a European Commission initiative promoted by the [...]
The StarTree project wants to bring the scientific community, forest owners, companies and business partners closer together in order to put non-timber forest products (NTFP) in the focus of [...]
The environmental services of the cork oak forest are valued at least 100 euros per year per hectare. The study conducted by Corticeira Amorim and CE Liège, attributed a value to the [...]
The enhancement of the cork oak and associated biodiversity is one of the strategic sustainability axes of Corticeira Amorim. The awarding of a prize for best cork oak forest management [...]
The first results of the sequencing of the cork oak, Portugal's National Tree, should be known by the end of 2015. The tree chosen for this research is planted on an estate in Montargil. The [...]
Research
Cork companies, individually or in partnership with other entities, and other institutions have carried out a series of research projects to increase the quality of products, as well as allow [...]
Cork powder from various stages of the manufacturing process has high energy production value.
The cork in contact with wine can provide some health benefits. Compounds present in cork react with other compounds present in red wine and produce Acutissimin A, which is an anti-tumor and [...]
Symbios is the new innovative process developed by CTCOR (Cork Technology Centre) which prevents the formation of TCA, the compound chiefly associated with the presence of mouldy odours commonly [...]