The Art of Cork Cork Throughout History
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THE ART OF CORK CORK THROUGHOUT HISTORY ................................................................................... 02 THE CORK OAK ......................................................................................................................... 06 SUSTAINABILITY ........................................................................................................................ 16 PROPERTIES OF CORK ....................................................................................................... 30 CORK AND THE AMORIM GROUP, A SUCCESS STORY .............................. 36 CORK AND WINE ...................................................................................................................... 42 CORK FLOOR & WALL COVERINGS .......................................................................... 58 EXPANDED INSULATION CORKBOARD .................................................................. 70 COMPOSITE CORK .................................................................................................................. 74 CORK, THE CHOICE OF WORLD DESIGN .............................................................. 82 RESEARCH, DEVELOP, INNOVATE FOR THE FUTURE ................................ 90 CORK, AN EXCEPTIONAL RAW MATERIAL CORK THROUGHOUT HISTORY MORE THAN 60 MILLION YEARS 25 MILLION MORE THAN 10 AGO... YEARS AGO... MILLION YEARS AGO... There are studies that indicate Several species A fossil fragment of the cork oak originated in succumbed to the Glacial cork was recently found the Tertiary period (between period. The cork oak deposited in the Tagus the Oligocene and Miocene resisted, however, thanks basin, attesting to the periods). Some theories point to the thermal protection ancient presence of cork to its existence since the of its bark - the cork. oaks in Portugal. formation of the Mediterranean basin, about 60 million years ago. THE CORK OAK FOREST IS NATIONAL HERITAGE, LEGALLY PROTECTED SINCE THE MIDDLE AGES. 3RD CENTURY B.C., IN 13TH CENTURY, FRANCE IN PORTUGAL Several amphorae were Charters are published in the reign of discovered containing D. Dinis creating game reserves meant wine considered to to protect the cork oak and holm oak, be still today in good granting benefits to those who would condition. protect new cork oaks. The cork oak has been the object of various laws in the reigns of several kings since that time, covering the production of cork oaks to the trade in cork. Cork stopper of ancient amphora 2 | THE ART OF CORK 1300 B.C., 5TH CENTURY B.C., 4TH CENTURY B.C., IN ANCIENT EGYPT IN GREECE IN ROMAN TIMES Cork was used for Amphorae were sealed Cork was used as thermal household tools, for fishing with cork stoppers. insulation in roofs, to seal and for sealing vessels. amphorae and as soles for footwear. A fresco from the tomb of Rameses, showing Soles from the Roman era (395 to 30 AD), about scenes of the grape harvest and winemaking. 14.5 cm long. 15TH AND 16TH CENTURY, IN 16TH CENTURY, 17TH CENTURY, PORTUGAL IN PORTUGAL IN FRANCE Cork was used in the boats that All the cells and chambers Dom Pierre Pérignon found cork to took Portuguese navigators to of the friars of the Capuchin be the ideal solution for sealing his discover the world. Convent, built in 1560, were wines from the famous Champagne lined with cork to provide extra region in northern France. This Cork is still used today, as it comfort. will have been the moment in was thousands of years ago, history that started the path to the as buoys and floats for fishing industrialization of cork, since this nets. had a decisive role in the affirmation of the qualities of this well-known wine. Window of the Convent of Christ. 15th century, Tomar, Portugal CORK THROUGHOUT HISTORY | 3 The cork stopper was initially made from rectangular blocks of cork. 4 | THE ART OF CORK THE INDUSTRIALIZATION CORK STOPPERS PRESERVE OF CORK STOPPERS 200 YEAR OLD CHAMPAGNE The cork stopper was initially More than 160 bottles of champagne TH 19 CENTURY, made from rectangular blocks aged about 200 years were discovered IN EUROPE AND of cork with the desired final in the Baltic Sea after the boat on which IN THE USA length. This was the method they were travelling sunk around 1800. used until the appearance of the The magnificent state of preservation of Garlopa machine in the twentieth this historic champagne attests to the century, the first industrial cork exceptional performance of the cork The cork stopper industry is stopper production machine. The stopper. developing greatly with new rectangular cork block was placed Corticeira Amorim was asked to replace equipments which give new impetus in a clamp which, upon applying the original cork for a new natural cork to its manufacture. light pressure, activated a worm stopper developed in accordance with In the United States new applications screw which in turn rotated the the specificities of these old bottles, thus for cork arose, such as simple block against a blade, producing ensuring the quality of the champagne. agglomerates or white cork for cylindrical corks. parquet flooring. Garlopa, beginning of 20th century. It is the first industrial cork stopper manufacturing machine. IT IS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THAT CORK OAK LEGISLATION GAINS ITS CURRENT SHAPE AS REGARDS PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT. 20TH CENTURY 21ST CENTURY Cork is used for various military purposes Cork has won over the most Corticeira Amorim launches in in World War II. demanding industries - such as the market, in partnership with the motor vehicle industry and the O-I, a revolutionary concept for In the 1950s the first agglomerated cork latest generation transports from wine packaging! Helix combines tiles with vinyl film appear on the market. aeronautics to aerospace travel - an ergonomically designed cork with highly efficient and versatile stopper and a glass bottle with an In the 1990s patents are registered for solutions in response to very high internal thread in the neck, creating the use of cork in transmission belts and technical requirements. a sophisticated solution of superior tyres. One of the major goals of cork for technical performance. Thus, Helix the 21st century is to strengthen combines all the benefits of cork In recent decades Confédération the field of innovation in high and glass - quality, sustainability Européenne du Liège is created as value-added applications for and premium image - which is now well as the International Code for Cork the market. boosted by the advantages of an easy Stopper Manufacturing Practices (quality to open (no corkscrew required) and control for cork stopper production). easy to close wine bottle (the cork stopper can easily be reinserted). CORK THROUGHOUT HISTORY | 5 THE CORK OAK 6 | THE ART OF CORK Commemorative coin The Portuguese Post Office The cork oak was officially of the Portuguese and Portuguese Parliament and unanimously instated Presidency of the launched a stamp on as the “National Tree”, European Union, self-adhesive cork paper by the Portuguese minted with a cork oak designed by João Machado Parliament (2011). (2007). (2008). THE CORK OAK | 7 FLOWERS QUERQUS The male flowers have 4 to 6 greenish yellow petals with a rosy tinge at the edge. SUBER L. The females are protected by a scaly dome. Carl Linnaeus created the binary taxon- omy species identification system, which classifies genus and species and thus designated the botanical nomenclature of THE LEAF the cork oak – Quercus Suber L. It is dark green, denticular and 5 to 8 pairs of secondary The cork oak belongs to a small sub-group ribs branch off its winding of European and Asian species whose midrib. closest relatives are the oaks of the east- It measures 2.5 to 10 cm x 1.2 ern Mediterranean Basin (Quercus cerris, to 6.5 cm. Quercus trojana, Quercus macrolepis). THE ACORN It is the fruit of the cork oak and the seed for new cork oaks. It is the basic food of the Black Alentejo Pig, a TIME TO GROW native breed for which the The cork oak is native to the Western Me- Alentejo cork oak forest is the natural habitat, where it roams diterranean Basin, where there are ideal freely. It eats 10 kg of acorns growing conditions: per day and gains 60 kg in • Sandy, chalk-free soils with low nitrogen weight in just three months. and phosphorus content, high potassium level and pH from 4.8 to 7.0; • Rainfall from 400-800 mm per year; • Temperature from -5º C to 40º C; • Altitude of 100-300 m. THE BARK It is a covering formed by the microcells that goes by the name of cork. Lignum 20 METRES IN HEIGHT | 200 YEARS Bast Cork THE WOOD The world’s largest cork oak is Portuguese and is registered It is a good fuel for in the Guinness Book of Records. It weighs about 102 tons, open fires and making and it produces enough cork every nine years to make 10,000 stoppers. charcoal. 8 | THE ART OF CORK THE CORK OAK | 9 HARVEST TIME The life cycle of cork as a raw material be- THE KNOW-HOW AND MANUAL SKILL gins when it is stripped: when the tree is OF THE CORK STRIPPER 25 years old and the trunk circumference Stripping the cork oak is an ancient and reaches 70 cm when measured 1.3 metres manual process that requires very careful from the ground. Subsequent strippings and experienced hands to prevent dam- take place at intervals of at least nine years, age to the bark or the tree. between the months of May and August. THE 5 STAGES OF STRIPPING THE CORK OAK 1. Open - the cork is cut with the axe verti- cally along its most marked groove, sepa- rating the cork plank from the bast. 2. Separate - the plank is separated by introducing the edge of the axe between the plank and the bast in a twisting motion of the axe. 3. Scribe - the size of the cork plank being pulled off the trunk is defined by a hori- zontal cut or scribing. 4. Extract - the plank is harvested from the tree very carefully to avoid it breaking. (The larger the plank, the greater its com- mercial value). 5. Remove Waste - some fragments of cork are left at the base of the trunk and these are hammered several times to re- move any parasites that may appear. After the stripping, each cork oak is marked with the last digit of the year in which the cork was harvested.