Anuva Wines Knowledgebase
Wine Corks
Corks derive from Cork Oak, with the majority from the Quercus suber tree of Portugal. Cork can easily and naturally create a seal in a bottleneck because it can compress to fit into small areas, and then grow to create a custom seal to the bottle.
Corks can be a single piece of corkwood or can be formed from many small pieces of cork glued together, called an Agglomerate cork. Corks for Champagne and sparkling wine are typically bigger than the bottle’s opening in order to compress later and are made of three pieces of cork glued together into a mushroom shape. A cork wire is put on to ensure the bottle’s pressure stays constant. Though corks may all look different—either more porous, more compact, dark, light—good quality corks all seal wine successfully.
Recycling Corks
Corks are biodegradable products and should be recycled or reused rather than put into the garbage. Cork trees take about 25 years to mature, and then can only be harvested for cork every ten years, m ... read more
Synthetic Corks
Though impermeable, some cheaper cork varieties are prone to open and reduce or taint wine’s original aroma. Now, more and more wineries use plastic screw caps, synthetic corks, or “vino-s ... read more
The Phrase Corked
The phrase “corked” refers to wine bottles that have a cork tainted with a disease called TCA (trichloroanisole)—giving the cork a foul, wet-dog type smell. TCA can make wine&rsquo ... read more
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