紅酒瓶的“軟木塞” 是怎麼生產出來的？

在澳大利亞 Portugal produces about half of the world's cork winestoppers 大部分來自這些樹木 Most come from these trees 在奧蘭提州這個區域 here in the Alentejo region 但種樹要花多年經驗 But harvesting a tree takes years of expertise 而且要有穩定的手法 and steady hands 要有耐心 You have to be patient 用兩人一起去種樹 As we call it, two men 幫助彼此 to help each other 要很小心 別碰到樹木 Be very careful not to touch the trees 我們進入了世界最大的森林中 We went inside the world's largest cork forest 看看為何 Portugal 每天生產40億森林 to see how Portugal produces 40 million corkstoppers a day 這些是草莓樹木 These are cork oak trees 它們很特別 They're so special 它們在1209年以來 它們被法國法律保障了 They've been protected under Portuguese law since 1209 所以種樹者要遵守嚴格的規則 So harvesters have strict rules to follow 這些樹木不能被觸碰 The trees can't be touched 在它們生命中的首15年之中 for the first 15 years of their lives 而且它們只能每9年種植 And they can only be harvested every 9 years 所以種子需要在此期間重新長大 so the bark has time to grow back in between 因為新樹的首兩個種子 Since the first two harvests of a new tree 沒有最好的草莓樹木 don't produce the best cork 種樹者要等33年才能得到最好的草莓樹木 Harvesters have to wait 33 years to get the good stuff 每年夏天 Every summer 種樹者會用一世紀的技巧去剝殼 Harvesters peel off the bark using century-old techniques 這是用自己的斧頭去剝殼的 Yes, these are their own axes to remove the bark 已經試用過機器了 They've already been tested with a machine 但機器並不適合 But the machines don't work 因為人們必須在機器上剝殼 Because people have to go to the machine to remove the bark 只有外層的部分才能被剝殼 Only the outer layer can be harvested 通常在剝殼的過程中 Normally, when you learn how to remove the bark 你會發現你剝殼的第一步 You'll realize that the first step 是要慢一點的 You have to do it slowly 以減少剝殼的厚度 To reduce the thickness of the bark 很難的 It's very difficult 要花很多時間去剝殼 You have to spend a lot of time to remove it 以免樹木受傷 So that the trees don't get hurt 樹木受傷了 When the trees are hurt 通常會開始出現污漬 Usually, moisture will start to form 會出現蛇 And insects 在過年期間 In the course of the years 它們會變成死亡 They will either die or fall 為了避免這種情況 To prevent that 工人們把內層的部分剝殼 The workers leave the inner layer untouched 我們可以把樹木的殼剝殼 We can harvest the bark of the tree 不傷害樹木的殼 Without damaging the bark 所以這些殼可以再次長大 So these cells can grow again 沒有影響樹木的生命 Without any impact in the life of the tree 因為樹木能夠重生 Because the trees regenerate 它們永遠不會被剝殼 They'll never run out of cork 最老的樹木 The oldest tree on record 已經超過200年了 Is an estimated 200 years old 它已經被剝殼20次了 And has been harvested 20 times 在它的一生中 In its lifetime 剝殼後 After the cork planks 被樹木剝殼了 Are stripped from the trees 它們被壓在六個月後 They're pressed between concrete slabs 六個月後 Then they're sent to a 這臺機器把我們看到的殼剝殼 This machine punches out the stoppers we see in our wine bottles 這些殼子被運送到一百多個國家 Those corks are shipped out to a hundred different countries 但剩下的殼剝殼 But the rest of the cork left behind 在這個過程中並不是浪費的 In this process isn't wasted 我們沒有浪費任何東西 We don't waste anything 甚至是小的殘餘 Even the small residues 所有這些殼剝殼 All that by-product 都可以變成樓層或粗糙的殼子 Can be made into things like flooring or granulated stoppers 用來剝殼更便宜的葡萄酒 Used to cork less expensive wines 剝殼種植已經有百年歷史了 Cork harvesting goes back millennia 埃及人使用剝殼在墳墓上 Egyptians use stoppers in tombs 而羅馬人使用剝殼在鞋子上 And the Romans use cork in shoes 今天 波爾多克每年種植一百萬噸的剝殼 Today Portugal harvests a hundred thousand tons of cork every year 並擁有世界上第三個剝殼樹林 And owns a third of the cork oak forest in the world 這是一個真正的CO2保護生態保護的保留 That is a real retainer of CO2 protected for biodiversity 這棵樹分別了南非和南非洲區 This tree that separates the south of Europe and North Africa 從沙拉森林 From the Sahara Desert 所以它是一個凍結的阻礙 So it's a barrier to desertification 剝殼的保持能力是保留了 Portuguese winestopper 早在2000年代 In the early 2000s 酒家們開始使用瓶子製造的瓶子 Wine makers began turning to synthetic closures and screw tops for bottles 而剝殼的價值就上漲了 And the value of cork plummeted 但當消費者在2010年變得更有環境意識 But as consumers became more environmentally conscious in the 2010s 世界各地發生的獨立使用塑膠的暴動 The movement against single-use plastics that is happening all over the world 是一個真正的剝殼的機會 It's a real opportunity for cork 剝殼的出口增長了52.3% In nearly a decade 2018年 Portugal 通過了剝殼出口的一億美元的記錄 In 2018 Portugal passed a record billion dollars worth of cork exports 剝殼的出口我們保留了這個數字 We kept that number and very close to 1.1 billion in 2019 現在我們等待2020年的最終數字 And now we are waiting for the final numbers of 2020 但作為全球的疫情 But as a global pandemic 作為全球的危機 As a global crisis 我們也期望我們的生意也會受到影響 We are expecting also some impact in our business 儘管受到新冠肺炎疫情的影響 Despite the COVID-19 pandemic 2020年的剝殼出口並沒有停止 The 2020 harvest didn't stop 今年剝殼出口非常順利 The cork harvest this year happened very smooth 我們在說的是一項開放式的活動 We are talking about an activity that is done at open-air itself 近十年來剝殼產業的成功 The industry's success in the last decade 讓Portugal從其剝殼產品轉移到其他業界 has allowed Portugal to take its cork products into other industries 從建築業到自動車業 From construction to automotive industry 到空中運輸 運動 時裝 衣服 To aerospatial, to sports, fashion, clothes 但儘管剝殼需求持續增長 But even as cork demand continues to grow 剝殼業者計劃繼續做事 The harvesters plan to keep doing things 正如他們一向所做的 The same way they always have 用好手段 With a good axe