Cork is hard to get because it is a natural material that is only found in certain parts of the world. It is also difficult to harvest and process.

Benefits of cork And it is used for many things, from the production of agglomerate for walls and floors to the manufacture of shoe insoles and even the lining of satellite capsules, but its main purpose is the sealing of bottles of alcoholic beverages -wines, spirits and cava- in the form of stoppers.

I think the whole boiling and soaking thing is a holdover from the old days of winemaking. Back then corks were not very pliant and had to be softened by heat. In addition, water acted as a lubricant to help the corks get into the bottle. Also, corks were not very clean to begin with.

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.