But there are also a lot of bad things about cork bottle closures, such as cork taint and the undesirable characteristics that wine can develop through contact with air.

Cork is an impermeable buoyant material. It is the phellem layer of bark tissue which is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber (the cork oak), which is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Cork is composed of suberin, a hydrophobic substance.

Auctions for wine corks sell in lots as small as 20 and as large as 500. The wine bottles usually sell for about 50 cents per bottle, but fancier bottles can fetch near $5.00 each (hint: Cobalt blue bottles!). Wine corks, however, generally sell for about 10 cents each.

Quercus suber, commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores of cricket balls. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.