Testing Practices
Since the M.A. Silva production and distribution operation is 100% vertically integrated, meaining we maintain chain of control of the cork material from the forest through harvesting, processing, finishing and distribution. Throughout this life cycle, we constantly test and evaluate the quality of the corkwood and ultimately, the finished product.
Finished wine corks, are at minimum, tested using both in-house state-of-the-art equipment and certified third-party labs. Contact us to discuss the certified techniques we use.
Partial List of Required Tests
| Chemical: | Residual peroxides 2,4,6 trichloroanisole by SPME GC/MS Sensory evaluation Absence of chlorine Atmospheric trapping for haloanisoles Absence of microbiological growth |
| Mechanical: | Dimensions (length, diameter, eccentricity, taper) Composition Density Moisture Capillarity Surface finish Sealing Behavior Dust quantification Insertion force Extraction force Bottles: Bottleneck profiles Machinery: Gas dosage measurements Facility: Humidity room temp/RH tracking |
| Cosmetic: | Visual quality (adherence to CQC and APCOR standards including porosity, color consistency, color uniformity, absence of defects such as wormholes, punching channels, greenwood, yellow stain, slants, dry years, and horizontal cracks) |
