INTERVIEW BY GIANLUCA BISCALCHIN

Massimo Vitale is the last cork-worker in Sicily, an ancient profession kneaded into the territory, boasting multi-faceted knowledge, respect for nature and environmental protection. And obsessions: caressing the trees, smelling the cork, seeking perfection to provide wine producers with a vision. A small miracle.

The wine cork has become synonymous with a sensory defect, the winemaker's worst nightmare. And yet, the cork represents the last act of a year's work in the vineyard and in the cellar. It seals the effort, the hopes, the choices of a winemaker and delivers their product to time. It carries with it an enormous burden of responsibility. This is why the Occhipinti winery has chosen to collaborate with and support an inspired craftsman like Massimo. A meeting with Arianna, during the cork-bark stripping in the Bosco di Santo Pietro, gave birth to the idea of ​​collaborating to create an optimal cork. Together, they began a common journey of stewards of a landscape made of vineyards, but also of woods, trees and knowledge. In short, of biodiversity, genuine biodiversity. Which also includes the valorisation of an ancient profession, in danger of extinction, like that of the cork worker…

“Doing this job is crazy. I never live peacefully because I never know what will happen over time. It's the number one problem of us cork workers: if the wine goes bad, if it tastes of cork, it's our fault, and at that point you can't fix it. Do you understand?”

GB: I do. How do you work to calm your anxiety?

MV: Sono un tipo sempre alla spasmodica ricerca della perfezione. Praticamente ho vissuto sempre con il sughero. Ci sono nato e vissuto. Già mio padre faceva questo lavoro. Nel 2005 ho reimpostato l’azienda di famiglia mirando proprio alla produzione del tappo monopezzo naturale destinato alle aziende locali. Con grande fatica.

GB: A single-piece cork?

MV: Tutti scrivono “tappo di sughero naturale”, ma è una definizione vaga che include tante tipologie: tappi “tecnici”, e quelli che facciamo noi. Il “monopezzo” è un pezzo di sughero intero, integro. Non c’è niente di artificiale dentro. Mentre i tappi che vanno per la maggiore, quelli tecnici, sono stati ricavati triturando il sughero, portandolo a granuli finissimi e trattandoli poi con vapore acqueo. 

nota: TEMPI DI CRESCITA – GROWTH TIMES - For the first extraction of cork, the tree takes 25-30 years. But the first extractions are not yet suitable for processing. In the end, 50 years are needed for optimal production.

GB: Let's say it's the same difference between chipboard and solid wood...

MV: Exactly. This “chipboard”, the technical cork, is obtained with glues and a small amount of plastic to give elasticity. This way they become “perfect” corks, they give no TCA problems--that “cork smell.” However, in my opinion, something of this glue gives way... We work in a different way.

GB: So where does your anxiety come from?

MV: Since ours is a natural product, never the same, with different interactions from one bottle to another, we never have absolute certainty of the result. You have to take that into account. Natural cork is like that, and those who appreciate it do take risks. However, we have brought them to very low percentages, 0.5%. Those who choose it, though, have a vision, an idea of ​​wine that is not just merchandise.

GB: In what sense?

MV: I start from the tree and go all the way through the cellar. This is why I create a close relationship with customers, like Arianna Occhipinti: I discuss and learn: we talk regularly, I taste their wine, to see the evolution of my corks and I try to understand if there are errors, if there is something to correct. Through this dialogue, we have managed to grow a lot. I waited for Arianna for several years. She encouraged me to correct some mistakes. And we talked. In the end, I think I have provided her with a product that is on a par with the quality of her wines.

GB: Why do certain producers choose your corks?

MV: Because they interact with the wine, which allows for optimal oxygen permeability. That, over time, makes a difference. It is a product suitable for wines that have a certain structure and that can afford the luxury, so to speak, of evolving through time, of improving over the years.

nota: PERCENTAGE OF USE - The part of cork suitable for processing is never be more than 20% of that extracted; all the rest is now ground up.

GB: So, this exchange of air, even if minimal, makes the difference?

MV: I really think so. There is no better combination for the wine, when the cork is perfect. Together they help each other. We are always looking for perfection, respecting naturalness. 

GB: How does your cork supply chain work?

MV: Let's start with the decortication: the cork is stripped from the tree and taken to the warehouse. Here the first selection is made, and the quality ones are stripped. 

nota: PHELLOGEN - This is the layer of the tree where the cork grows. The quality of the cork is also established here 

GB: Stripped?

MV: Yes: with a chainsaw, we remove all the bark in contact with the base of the tree, with the earth, and which therefore contains a lot of mould. This allows us to smell its quality, just by the smell it produces. Then the cork is placed on nets about 30 cm above the ground and seasons in the sun. 

GB: How long does the seasoning last?

MV: Cork can generally be processed only after 6-8 months and needs a calendar year of processing in total. We then boil it for an hour and a half in special stainless-steel boilers. Then it is ready to be processed. To obtain the bottle-cork, the cork bark is cut into strips, graded according to thickness and for the various desired cork sizes. We then begin processing it: we perform an olfactory analysis on each individual piece. After that, it is heat treated to completely destroy the bacterial flora. 

nota: CORK OAK - The Quercus Lexus Suber is a close relative of the holm oak, which however do not produce cork. It produces two types of cork. The male, from the first extraction, is used for uses such as nativity scenes. Mature extractions become female, or gentle, and this bark is used for processing. 

GB: You said olfactory analysis... do you smell them?

MV: I told you I was crazy... We smell the corks one by one. Even when I cut the cork, during processing, I perform a continuous sniffing: the cutting blades heat up the cork and bring out hidden odours. It took me 50 years of work to develop this sensitivity (laughs).

GB: So, can you perceive the famous "cork taint"?

MV: Exactly. The defect is caused by an anisole which, in contact with wine, develops a substance that is extracted by alcohol. Hence the well-known musty smell, the musty odour. To try to overcome this problem, we have been using our sense of smell for some time now. It is not a 100% foolproof technique, but it allows us to identify the TCA, which is the correct name for the molecule. Then it depends a lot on the batch of cork. 

GB: Speaking of which: can the quality of cork change from tree to tree, even if they are in the same oak forest?

MV:Let me give you an example. We can divide Sicily into two prime areas for cork. One area, in the north, runs from the Madonie Mountains to the Nebrodi Mountains, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. The other is where we are, in the south-eastern area: Syracuse, Ragusa, up to Catania. In the northern strip, production is heavier, but the quality of the cork is poor. Our own cork oak forests, like the “Bosco di Santo Pietro”, have unique characteristics, excellent quality. But they are disappearing. For the type of product I work with, the cork oak forest is an essential component. I go and look for those that are well exposed to the sun, and ventilated, since this helps to give us cork with less moss, less lichen and less humidity. In Sicily we use to have a territory with a lot of cork. Today there is very little left. There was no economic factor, so it was not correctly valued and also because the production cycle is so long. 

nota: SEASONALITY - Extraction is done in the summer, from May 15 to August 31. However, it depends on the season; many times, like last year, the extraction is a disaster because the summer was too dry and the cork oak forests closed very early. .

GB: So, it is also a question of environmental protection...

MV: You have to learn to work in harmony with nature. Many cork oak forests that could have survived better have been damaged due to carelessness and a lack of respect for the trees. Consider that cork only grows in the Mediterranean (and in Portugal). It needs the sea breezes, the sun, mild air--that is, it needs our climate. It doesn't grow above 700 metres. It is a tree that feels the cold (laughs). So, we should work well here where we are, with people who have respect for the tree. 

GB: And how?

MV: You have to know them, the trees. Love them. I think of them as old giant elephants, slow, that have lived many lives. I always caress the tree after the bark removal. It’s a wonderful feeling. What I ask my guys when we work in the forest is to respect the tree. Since it’s a job that has to be done with an axe, it’s easy to damage the phellogen, the place where the cork grows on the tree. Every blow you give is a wound you inflict on the tree. This wound needs to heal. If done badly, the bark removal can even kill the tree. You always have to know when to stop.

GB: Isn't it economically profitable?

MV: Of course: cork oak forests are now only on state property. They survive only for this reason, and we hope that they will continue to keep them alive. And there are many problems flowing from a lack of training and professionalism... Many times, we see cork oak forests that are poorly cared for. They could be fixed and could produce excellent cork. 

Despite neglect, arson and other misdeeds, the Bosco di Santo Pietro, donated by Roger the Norman to Caltagirone in the 12th century, is the largest cork oak forest in central-southern Sicily. Once upon a time, a single bark-removal operation produced 15,000 cartloads of bark for the production of corks. Today the situation is as described by Massimo.
Un tempo, una sola decortica produceva 15.000 “carretti” di scorza destinata alla produzione dei tappi. Oggi la situazione è quella descritta da Massimo.

But the Occhipinti winery, which uses only Sicilian cork, dreams of replanting the forest, which is a few kilometres from Vittoria. The project would protect the area, preserve an ancient craft, and create a truly local supply chain, all in support of a product like wine in such a renowned growing area as Vittoria.