Definition: Démasclage

Name given to the first stripping of the cork oak to remove the male cork.

First stripping of the cork oak. The removal of the male cork from the cork oak tree carried out in summer. This operation consists of removing the male cork without damaging the mother so that the tree can subsequently produce new cork, known as female cork.

Stripping is followed by debarking, a manual operation involving the removal of thick sheets of bark from the cork oak tree using a machete. This operation takes place every nine years. In the meantime, the bark regenerates.