With a combined Portuguese and Spanish harvest of 220,000 metric tons, the recently completed 2009 global cork harvest shrunk approximately 10 percent behind 2008’s production, according to Jochen Michalski, president of Cork Supply, a leading global supplier of premium natural cork wine stoppers.
“Despite the drop in the total harvest, the amount of cork graded as ‘premium’ was equivalent to the 2008 harvest,” says Michalski. “Although we enjoyed an even distribution of rain throughout the season, temperatures were high, prompting growers to hold back some forests to allow their trees another year or two of growth. This should result in a greater harvest of the high quality wood required for wine corks in the coming years.”
According to Frederico Mayer, director of Cork Supply’s raw material department, the 2009 harvest has added significance for Cork Supply. “This harvest completes the first nine-year cycle of our unique forest management system for sampling and purchasing cork lots from carefully selected cork forests,” he said. Mayer added, “Since we created this innovative forestry quality assurance program in 2000, it has provided an invaluable cork forest database enabling us to better predict the future and make purchasing decisions that yield the best quality and quantity of punchable cork wood.”
Cork forests provide sustainable habitat for wildlife biodiversity, reduce carbon from the atmosphere, act as a barrier against desertification, and sustain the livelihood and culture of indigenous communities. Recognized worldwide by environmental and governmental organizations as playing a vital social, economic and environmental role, cork forests are protected by the Portuguese government, and their expansion is supported by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) preservation programs.
“In addition to cork already being the wine closure with the lowest carbon footprint - and the only one that’s 100 percent natural, renewable, biodegradable and recyclable - more cork forest owners are undergoing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification,” said Mayer. “As more and more wineries improve the sustainability of their wine brands, the global demand for certified cork is growing, and certified cork forests are increasing by 15 percent annually.”
With companies spanning the globe, Cork Supply Group specializes in the production and distribution of premium quality winemaking and wine packaging products. Among the forested products Cork Supply Group manufactures and/or distributes are: natural, technical and champagne corks, French and American oak barrels and alternatives, and award-winning designer wine labels. As one of the first companies to be awarded FSC certification of their global cork production facilities in Portugal, and a founding member of the WWF-GFTN (Global Forest Trade Network) Iberia, Cork Supply is committed to sustainable forest stewardship and responsible purchasing of forest products. For more information, please visit www.corksupply.com.
Contacts:
Cork Supply Group
Ron Glotzer, 707-746-0353
Global Brand
Marketing Director
