Climate Change Ruining Cork

Bad news for all you wine enthusiasts out there.  The cork oak, the tree that wine cork is made from, is in decline, has been for 20 years, and it looks like climate change is to blame.  The problem is that the bark on these trees is thinning, and trees with thinner bark have fewer of the proteins which are necessary for good wine cork.  Corks made from bad cork oak has more lenticular channels, letting more air into the wine, and when the oxygen meets the alcohol in the bottle, it reacts, forming acetic acid and making the wine taste like vinegar, and nobody wants that.

As for climate change being the problem, scientists believe that increased temperatures and higher levels of UV radiation is causing the bark to thin.  The bad cork trees have more chemicals that help absorb ultraviolet light than good cork trees, suggesting the trees are adapting to deal with higher levels of radiation.  So, you may have to settle for a metal stopper for your wine rather than having to fiddle with a cork and a corkscrew.  Then you get bits of cork in the wine, and then you drink the wine, but you're not a wine expert so you have no idea why this wine is supposed to be so good.  You only bought the wine because you wanted to feel fancy.  Sorry, not the biggest wine fan.

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