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Century when the elite classes in Italy began using a single wine glass per individual. Before then, even in formal banquets, glasses were shared by two or more guests. As part of the Italian style of refined dining, each guest at a dinner would also use an individual fork. Italy was the first country in Europe where wine glasses and forks were used individually, rather than shared.

How often can cork bark be harvested from cork oak trees?

A. Every year, just like grapes

B. Once every 50 years

C. Once every 3 years

D. Once every 9 years

Cork oak trees can be harvested for the first time for cork bark after about 25 years. Thereafter, the tree bark is harvested every 9 years. A cork tree will be “stripped,” on average, sixteen times in its 150 to 200 life. There is a saying in Portugal (where most of the world’s cork oak forests exist) that: Nature got it wrong–there should be a cork harvest every year, but women should have babies just once every nine years.

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.”

—Mark Twain,
American novelist (1835-1910)

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