APCOR, the association of Portuguese cork producers, has devised an online certification course to increase awareness of the characteristics of real cork.

Aimed at professionals, educators and the general public, the course involves an exam consisting of multiple choice and true/false questions.

‘We conducted a survey in 2005 that indicated that customers love cork,’ Carla Silva, APCOR’s communications manager for USA and Australia, told decanter.com. ‘But it also showed there is some work to be done to educate the wine trade and customers on issues of cork and wine closures in general.’

However, with questions like ‘What does “amadia” cork signify?’ the exam is not for the uninitiated.

In the first week of its launch, 71 people took the exam and 39 succeeded on their first attempt. The passing grade is 80%.

Monika Krupski, a wine educator and consultant for All Around Wine, had to repeat the course.

‘I thought it would be a piece of cake,’ said Krupski. ‘It helped me realise I didn’t know that much about cork. I tend to be an alternative closures person’

See www.realcorkusa.com

Written by Maggie Rosen

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Maggie Rosen
Maggie Rosen
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer & Editor

Maggie Rosen is a wine journalist, editor and author, hailing from New York but based in London. Aside from Decanter, she has contributed to the Financial Times, The Drinks Business, Harpers Wine and Spirit Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, The World of Fine Wine and Meininger's Wine Business International. She is also a member of the Circle of Wine Writers.