Get to the heart of the problem

Purity comes first at M. A. Silva Corks. Our commitment to providing you with the most contaminant-free corks begins in our company’s large, new, state-of-the-art processing facility, located in the heart of Portugal’s cork oak forests.

Our high-tech boiling system is designed to dramatically enhance the neutrality and purity of all raw corkwood. The basic premise of the system is that boiling cork planks under pressure increases permeability, thereby increasing the ability of hot water to remove TCA.

Here’s how it works:

After loading seasoned cork wood into large stainless steel chambers, water temperatures are raised beyond the boiling point to keep the wood boiling under constant pressure. Because TCA molecules are volatile, they are extracted into the vapor and eliminated. Moreover, the system also filters the water continuously, extracting and removing even more TCA and tannins.

Benefits:

• Increases extraction of TCA and tannins
• Prevents cross-contamination of batches
• Reduces incidence of post-boiling contamination
• Guarantees traceability of the final product
• Saves energy and protects the environment

The advantages of M. A. Silva Corks’ proprietary boiling system are clear. Sensory tests show repeated sequences of zero percent off-flavors. The efficiency of this technology and its sensory advantages have been validated by CTCOR, a non-profit research laboratory that plays an important role in the definition of standards for the Portuguese cork industry.