The material that seals wine
There's one detail that every quality wine bottle in the world has in common: a cork. Small, silent, often taken for granted — yet it is the result of millennia of history, an extraordinary tree, and a craft that has found its ideal home in Sardinia.
The cork oak characterizes a significant part of the Sardinian landscape — from Gallura to Sulcis, from Goceano to Mandrolisai — and Sardinia produces approximately 80% of the national cork production, with almost 90,000 hectares of land dedicated to this extraordinary tree.
A material that has accompanied wine for approximately 3,000 years. And which, even today, despite synthetic alternatives, remains irreplaceable for wines that deserve to age.
The cork oak: a tree that knows how to wait
The cork oak (Quercus suber) is a plant of great personality. It can reach 20 meters in height, live up to three hundred years, and develops roots that penetrate many meters into the soil — allowing it to survive even the most intense droughts.
It prefers temperate climates and altitudes below 1,000 meters: exactly the conditions of the Sardinian landscape, where granite hills, a mild climate, and winter rains create the ideal habitat.
Its secret lies in its bark: a thick, porous layer that wraps the trunk and branches like natural armor, protecting the tree from the elements and even from fires. That bark — cork — has unique characteristics: elasticity, lightness, impermeability, resistance. Qualities that make it useful in the most diverse fields, from construction to clothing, from craftsmanship to the wine industry.
Extraction: a decennial ritual
Cork is not cut: it is extracted — with care, respecting the tree's rhythms.