As Oregonians we treasure our environment, our ancient and managed forests.
The cork forests of the Mediterranean are second to the Amazon Forest in importance to the world's biosphere. These forests are in danger. The increased use of plastic stoppers and aluminum screw caps are reducing the use of natural cork- increasing the danger of global warming. Cork trees naturally remove carbon from the air and sequester it in their bark - am pump oxygen back into the atmosphere. If we choose wine sealed with natural cork, we help the environment. Conversely, aluminum ore mining and processing, using high levels of electricity, is resulting in substantial negative ecological effects. The same is true of petroleum-based plastic stopper manufacturing.
Jim Bernau
Founder/CEO
P.S. Plus, as wine ages in the bottle, high quality natural cork is the best for wine quality.
This is why we at Willamette Valley Vineyards have launched the Cork ReHarvest program. Willamette Valley Vineyards was the first winery in the world to receive certification from the Rainforest Alliance for using 100 percent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified cork. With the new Cork ReHarvest program, we are also the first winery to launch a cradle-to-cradle cork recycling program with zero increase to our carbon footprint. Cork recycling boxes were placed in the 11 Whole Foods stores in Oregon and Washington, as well as the 11 Roths grocery stores in the Mid-Willamette Valley. When distributors deliver wine to these stores, they pick up the cork and return it to WVV’s Turner-based warehouse. The cork will then be delivered to Western Pulp, where it is remanufactured into wine shippers, when WVV makes its current deliveries to the Corvallis warehouse.
Cork Facts
- Cork is a natural, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable material that is obtained through an environmentally friendly harvesting process.
- Trees are not cut down to harvest cork, rather, the bark is stripped by hand every 9-12 years. Cork oak trees can live up to 300 years!
- Approximately 6.6 million acres extending across Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France, the cork oak forests support one of the world's highest levels of forest biodiversity, second only to the Amazon Rainforest.
- Opting for screw caps and plastic stoppers directly causes the loss of sustainable livelihoods as the cork forests are a vital source of income for thousands of families.
- Willamette Valley Vineyards is the first winery in the world to receive Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification through the Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood.
Corks collected will continue to be used in the wine industry as they are utilized to produce molded fiber wine shippers. With our partners and your help, we can have a significant impact in saving the cork forests and reuse this remarkable natural resource.
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