Cork Trees?

Who ever heard of such a thing.

When I moved up here to Chicago, I was a snob. A wine snob. By smelling the cork, I could tell you where in the world this bottle came from. Whether it was the Napa Valley, France, or even Texas, yes we made wine in Texas, I could tell. I only drank vine from a bottle with a cork in it. And sometimes when the smell of that cork didn't stand up to what I thought was acceptable, I'd send it back. Dining out with me was probably a trip! Never a screw top, or heaven forbid, a box!

Well, my 2 best friends, downstairs, Vanessa and Jasmine, have me drinking wine from a box. I was horrified at 1st, but when in Rome...This has been going on for some time now. Oh, how I miss the smell of a cork. But, as it remains, Bear drinks wine from a box. My snob friends in Dallas would be equally horrified if they knew. Now that its come to be passe' with me, I could care less what people think. But, still I yearn for that cork!

So, V and I are sitting around her table, one afternoon, I got "full" on wine, and the subject of me being a wine snob came up. I knew it would eventually. She tried to explain to me how the cork trees were being wiped out and cork was at an all time shortage, that's why they were coming in boxes now. (My memory of the conversation may be in question here, because I don't really remember leaving her house. Don't quote me! LOL) WHAT??? CORK TREES??? But, being the southern gentleman I am, I said not a word.

The guy I started talking about, a couple of days ago and said we were not dating, well today was our 3rd date. We are now dating. Yes, I said it, Daddy or Sir Bear has a boyfriend. Are ya' happy now? 'Cause I sure am. Anyway, I digress..

On our 2nd date, I found myself over at his house. He had ordered pizza before I arrived, and 15 minutes after I had walked through his front door, it was there. He left me in the kitchen to do the honors of uncorking the bottle. A beautiful bottle of red wine, California, was laid out before me with a cork screw that looked like it came over on the Mayflower. (I found out this morning, it was his grand father's. Totally acceptable!) I thought, #1, I'll never get this out of the bottle, or I will use my strength, and with all my might, not only will that cork come out, but he'll walk back into the kitchen with all of his cabinets re-painted red along with my t-shirt and jeans. What an impression that would make, huh???

Here's the time to make my impression. With one big pull, a little twist, and POP!, out it came. No pieces of cork in the bottle, the whole ball of wax came out. While patting myself on the back, he returns to the kitchen with pizza. I take one look at him, remember the story Lady V had told me, and I just couldn't help myself. I started laughing, he wanted to know why, and then the story came pouring out. We both chuckled quite a bit. Vanessa, we weren't making fun of you, but it sure was the "ice breaker" I was looking for. I was quite nervous up until that very moment.

John-Michael has got to be one of the smartest men I have ever dated. I'm a little intimidated, but why should I be, I'm no slouch myself. So, being smart and constantly thirsty for knowledge, JM sets out on a quest to find the mysterious "cork trees!" And, I'll be damned, he found them. They're in Portugal and called cork oak trees. A forest of them.

'Seems, that in the 1974 revolution in Portugal, the cork trees fell into the extreme leftist hands and the damage was quite extent. After the Portugal territory was return to its rightful owners, it took 2 harvests,16 to 20 years, to return them to their wondrous state.

To harvest, these natural wonders, you have to carefully carve the bark from the tree leaving the protective membrane in tact. This is what gives the tree its nourishment. The world record was set in 1889, by a cork oak tree in Portugal, which yielded no less than 3,870 lbs. of cork in one stripping. That's just 1 tree. Can you imagine how much cork can be had from a forest of these beauties?

So now, let's all raise our glasses to Vanessa. May it be from a box, a gallon jug, or a corked bottle, long may her cork trees wave. And, we are better because of it!