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Amorim Cork is proud to present François Audouze's exceptional collection of bottle cork stoppers. 

François Audouze, one of France’s best-known collectors and advocates of rarer and older wines - including Romanée-Conti, Yquem, Mouton-Rothschild, and other great iconic wines - has donated his prestigious collection of cork wine stoppers and capsules to Amorim Cork - with more than 4,000 corks dating from 1700 to the present day.

This collection is now displayed for the first time at Amorim’s Heritage House, located at the company’s head office in Santa Maria de Lamas, Portugal.

The recently inaugurated Heritage House, which attracts more than 5,000 visitors yearly, showcases key moments in the cork industry. The museum provides an in-depth look into the evolution of Amorim cork stoppers production, highlighting significant milestones over the past 150 years since the firm began trading as a producer of cork stoppers for the Port wine industry.

The Passion Behind the Cork Stoppers Collection

François Audouze, has over 40,000 wines, one of the world’s largest wine collections, some as old as 1690. During his life and professional activity, has opened over 20,000 bottles and carefully collected the cork stoppers, some of which are over 200 years old.

When he went to a blind tasting event as a young man and sampled a 1923 vintage bottle of Sauternes, he said that he “almost fell out of my chair”. This marked the beginning of his journey in understanding the relationship between wine and how the cork stopper influences the taste and preservation of wine.

From that moment on he began purchasing old wines, above all to drink, rather than keep in a cellar. “At one moment, I realised that the truth lies in old wines”, he confided.

The Art of Hosting: François Audouze’s Wine Dinners 

François Audouze is not only a collector but also a connoisseur. Since 2003 he has organised over  3000 "wine dinners", attended by leading wine collectors and enthusiasts, and also runs a well-known blog and Instagram account with 54,900 subscribers - the "Carnets de François Audouze". He regularly hosts wine collectors and enthusiasts, where the guests experience wines from his extensive collection.

Audouze is renowned for his special technique for opening old bottles known as 'slow oxygenation', which involves very slowly extracting the cork stopper, 4-5 hours before consuming the wine, that dispenses with the need for decanting and maintains the wine stable for the meal in which it will be consumed.

He has a complete inventory with over 40,000 wines in his collection, including reference of the name, vintage and even the distance between the cork stopper and the wine in the bottleneck.

The Role of Cork in Preservation

According to Audouze, the quality of cork stoppers plays a crucial role in preserving the long-term vitality of champagne.

“To give you an example, the finest bottle of Dom Perignon I ever drank was 1929 vintage. 

The best Veuve Cliquot was from 1947. The best champagne I ever tasted is a Maison Juglar, from a winery that disappeared in 1829. I drank a bottle of Juglar from 1820. 

There was such emotion, I had the feeling that I was drinking this wine as would have done a man of 1840, and the emotion to think what I was drinking is exactly the same as what a man of 1840 had drunk was fantastic!”

He added that he had never experienced the taste of any of his wines changed by the cork stopper. He also explained that he is against recorking because new air enters the bottle and impacts the wine.

For example he says that his best-ever Chateau d'Yquem wine was an 1863 vintage which still had its original cork stopper. 

“It was absolutely fantastic!”

The quality of the cork directly impacts the aging process, ensuring the wine retains its flavor and aroma for decades.

François Audouze's Legacy at Amorim Cork

As Amorim Cork continues to lead the industry in cork stoppers production, François Audouze’s donation of his historic cork stopper collection marks a significant moment in the history of both wine and cork.

António Rios de Amorim, Amorim Cork’s Chairman, said that he was delighted by the donation of the collection of cork stoppers:

"Amorim Cork and Portugal in general are world leaders in the cork industry. 

Many of these antique cork stoppers, steeped in history, are effectively returning to their origins, near the Alentejo’s mythical cork oak forest. We will take special care of this magnificent collection, which will be on display next to the world’s most modern natural cork production facility.”

François Audouze added: “One day I will leave this earth... so, by offering these corks to the Amorim family, I think that the memory of the intense moments provided by the wines will still be present. Through this donation to a company and a family that share this desire for eternity, that’s precisely what I am trying to achieve."

The François Audouze cork stopper collection, now on display at Amorim Cork's Heritage House, offers an unique opportunity to explore the rich history of wine and cork.