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[Adolph Archer]

[Adolph Archer]

Have you ever wondered where that cork in your bottle of wine comes from? The answer is most likely to be Spain or Portugal, where over half of the world’s cork is harvested - it is in fact the National Tree of the latter country.

However, unlike other forms of forestry, the production of cork never involves the death of a tree.
Instead, they are gently stripped, leaving a strange but fascinating landscape of denuded trunks.

[Adolph Archer]

[Adolph Archer]

[Adolph Archer]

All of this takes some time.  Cork trees can live to over two hundred years but are not considered ready for their cork to be removed until they are at least twenty five years old.  Even then, the first two harvests do not produce cork of the highest quality – it isn’t until the trees are in their forties that they produce premium cork.

[Adolph Archer]

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