Wine lovers who know the advantages of stopping wine with cork – and care about the environment – should take note of Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner, OR. The winery has become the world's first to use stoppers harvested from cork oak forestlands certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

By doing so, Willamette counters a recent trend in the wine industry that favors synthetic stoppers. Bowing to pressure by supermarkets to protect against possible tainting, oxidation and leakage, vintners throughout California, Europe, South America and South Africa are replacing their natural cork with plastics and screw caps. In doing so, they are endangering one of the last natural forest ecosystems in Western Europe and along with it an economy and culture  that has grown up around cork farming for over a thousand years. In an effort to conserve these cork-producing regions, the Rainforest Alliance has been working to increase demand for cork.

“Without the demand for cork, economic pressure could force farmers to abandon the active management of cork forests, which may lead to rural exodus as well as unbalance the ecosystems that preserve the biodiversity of these regions,” explains Jamie Lawrence, the Rainforest Alliance’s European forestry division manager.

Willamette produces some 100,000 cases of wine each year for distribution in the US, Canada and the Pacific Rim. Starting with a 2006 vintage Pinot Noir, which will be available to consumers this fall, the winery has begun using FSC-certified cork stoppers in all its bottles. The corks and bottles both carry the FSC and Rainforest Alliance logos.

The Cork stoppers are manufactured by Portugal-based Amorim & Irmaos S.A., the world’s largest cork processor, whose facilities are also certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Like Willamette, Amorim purchases cork from Rainforest Alliance Certified forests that are managed to ensure the long-term well-being of the land and the people whose lives and livelihoods depend upon it.