Cork

I was sent an email the other day from my friend Kevin down in the Marina.  It was about cork.  No, not the city in Ireland but the stuff that caps wine bottles.  It seems this easily taken for granted material is harvested in Spain and Portugal from oak like trees.  Furthermore it is only harvested from the trees every nine years.

It is only the bark that is gently removed and it takes nine years to grow back.  So this is not a product for those in a hurry.  Most of the people in the business have been in it for many generations.