Why do red wine bottle caps use cork instead of something else? !

The reason is that cork is soft and elastic, and there are many fine holes. When it is used to seal the bottle neck, the cork will expand when it comes into contact with wine, thus sealing the gap in the bottle neck and preventing the wine from leaking. At the same time, wine can also contact with a small amount of air through the micropores of the cork itself to achieve the purpose of breathing and development, and continue to complete its ripening process after bottling. In addition, the composition of cork soaked in wine will also increase the sense of structure of wine.

It is said that there was no special wine cork before wine was sealed with cork. Usually, some materials such as rattan grass are used to plug the container first, and then wax is used to seal it. There are many disadvantages in this way: in the process of opening a bottle, it is inevitable that small particles of wax and grass clippings will fall into the wine, thus affecting the hygiene of the wine; Poor sealing leads to serious oxidation of liquor and affects the quality of liquor; Liquor leakage is even more inevitable, causing huge losses.

The first person to use a cork was the inventor of French champagne, Dom Perignon, a blind man. He made a champagne cork from Spanish Ji Shu in 1679.

The wood of Ji Shu tree is similar to that of pine tree, and it is the most suitable tree species for making cork among all trees. When selecting materials, the best tree age is maturity, which is too old, it lacks elasticity, and young trees are fragile, inelastic and easy to break. Jiētree in the south of France is famous for its excellent quality.

The material selection and manufacturing technology of cork is very complicated. With the progress of science and technology, cork is no longer limited to the production of logs, but is made by artificial synthesis. The cork made is no different from the cork made of logs and is widely used.