{"id":23004,"date":"2023-02-05T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-05T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fromplacetoplace.travel\/?p=23004"},"modified":"2024-01-31T11:58:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T10:58:16","slug":"world-of-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromplacetoplace.travel\/portugal\/porto\/world-of-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"WOW! What a visit to the World of Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The World of Wine is located in the new cultural quarter in Porto \/ Gaia. Here, in the old warehouses of the wine producers, a modern complex with museums and restaurants has been created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

You can visit a total of 7 museums at the World of Wine. Each one has a different thematic focus, but they all deal with topics related to Porto and wine. There is a separate article about the museums “The Bridge Collection”, “Porto Region across the Ages” and “Porto Fashion & Fabric Museum” which you can reach via this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"World<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this article we present the 4 other museums and exhibitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planet Cork<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Planet Cork Museum is one of the current 7 museums in WOW Porto. It is located in the main building of the complex. For me, the subject of cork was a hitherto unnoticed topic, so I was very curious to see what would await me there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eingang<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is cork?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cork is the outermost layer of tissue that forms as bark in some plant species. This is usually very thin. In the case of the cork oak, a layer of cork several centimetres thick forms. This layer is used to make cork, which is also used to make the closures of wine bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During the visit to Planet Cork, you first learn about the cork oak and its distribution in Europe. A map clearly shows that there are many cork oak areas in Portugal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Korkeiche\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The topic of cork harvesting and processing is a central theme of the exhibition. About every 8-12 years, the cork bark on the trees is peeled. During the first peeling, the bark of the tree is still quite resinous and, due to its composition, is suitable as a natural building material that is used, for example, in thermal insulation. The next peelings of the tree bark then yield a raw material that is low in resin and suitable for the production of bottle corks and other industrial products. Each tree can produce about 100 – 200 kilograms of cork in the course of its life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"World<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The production of the bottle cork plays a central role in World of Wine. Impressive pictures and video sequences explain the process, but also make it clear that the producers use as much of the raw material as possible. For example, the leftovers are ground into granules and used to make products that require greater strength (e.g. flooring, champagne corks, insulation material).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wandverkleidung<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Is it worth the visit?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What I particularly liked about Planet Cork was that, in addition to the technical presentation, there was also a lot of interaction. We had our body weight weighed out in wine corks and learned, for example, that cork is used in film production to make noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"K\u00f6rpergewicht<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was able to customise a wine cork for \u20ac1 at a vending machine. Now all that’s missing is my own wine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n