Word: mediterraneanize
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...Mediterranean cork producers would probably not appreciate his sentiment. Their product, which has been plugging bottles at least since the days of ancient Pompeii, has gone unchallenged for centuries as the world's favorite wine stopper. But like many long-lived gastronomic rites, the custom ran into trouble when globalization kicked into high gear. In the 1990s, world wine production exploded, and to meet demand, cork makers started shipping products that, to many, weren't up to snuff. Increased concern about cork taint led wineries like Bonny Doon to look for new ways to seal their wares. Between...
Likewise, humans have lent the cork crop a big helping hand. The cork oak tree, whose thick, regenerating bark is shaved off to make cork, covers about 10,400 sq. mi. (2.7 million hectares) in its native Mediterranean habitats of Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Italy, Tunisia and France. Yielding cork oaks aren't ever cut down; once a decade or so, their thick bark is harvested in huge strips from the trunk of the tree. Today, the survival of cultivated cork forests, many of which are on private land, depends on their worth. If nobody is buying cork, landowners will...
...which are directly involved in harvesting. In a May 2006 report, "Cork Screwed?," WWF suggests that if the wine market continues to grow and cork demand continues to decline, the number of harvesters could drop to about 2,400 by 2015, and leave up to 75% of the Mediterranean's cork forest landscapes unmanaged and susceptible to threats like fires, overgrazing, and clearing...
...first and second centuries B.C., wine from the Greek island of Kos was the toast of the Mediterranean. Famed for its medicinal qualities, this sun-blessed nectar was enjoyed across the ancient world and even reached the western coast of India...
...biological weapons programs - an act the U.S., Britain, and other Western governments had demanded as prerequisite for renewing relations with Tripoli. Bilateral contacts have increased since, including partnerships between Western and Libyan intelligence services that Gaddafi and European officials credit for thwarting terror attacks on both sides of the Mediterranean. Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair traveled to Tripoli in May to hail Libya's "completely transformed" behavior, and predicted that the flourishing security and defense relationship between the two nations would soon be followed by a business boom as well...