Here’s how that cork in your wine bottle starts out. On the back of a mule, in remote Spain
Kara Dillon | 13/07/30 |
Un excelente reportaje gráfico, gracias a Pablo Bázquez, en National Post que enseña la belleza de un oficio y de una actividad económica
Spain and Portugal are the largest producers of cork in the world; Los Alcornocales Natural Park in the Iberian Peninsula is the leading region for production. The ancient cork cultivated in these oak forests is a major world export. The bark from the oak is harvested every nine years, through traditional methods. The best planks are sourced for wine bottling corks while the rest is processed into agglomerate cork.
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Two axemen 'Hachas' remove the bark of a cork oak at Parque Natural de los Alcornocales on July 3, 2013 near Alcala de los Gazules, Spain. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images An axeman, 'Hacha,' removes the bark from a cork oak at Parque Natural de los Alcornocales on July 3, 2013 near Alcala de los Gazules, Spain. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images A bark collector 'recogeor' carries bark while axemen 'Hachas' Francisco Velez, 46, and Ismael Jimenez, 26, remove the bark of a cork oak at Parque Natural de los Alcornocales. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images A mule man 'arriero' loads a mule with bark from cork oaks at Parque Natural de los Alcornocales on July 3, 2013 near Alcala de los Gazules, Spain. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images A 'recogeor' and a mule carry bark from cork oaks at Parque Natural de los Alcornocales on July 3, 2013 near Alcala de los Gazules, Spain. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Joaquin Chacon, 55, checks cork planks at a factory on July 2, 2013 in El Pedroso, near Seville, Spain. A factory in El Pedroso processes raw cork planks through traditional methods. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Ezequiel Rodriguez, 21, takes out a pile of cork planks from boiling at a factory on July 2, 2013 in El Pedroso, near Seville, Spain. A factory in El Pedroso processes raw cork planks through traditional methods. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Cork planks are stacked at a factory on July 2, 2013 in El Pedroso, near Seville, Spain. |
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| Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Natural wine corks are stored in a factory on July 2, 2013 in Bollullos Par del Condado, Spain. |
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| A waiter removes the cork from a bottle of wine at a bar in Alcala de los Gazules, Spain.Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images |
