The University of La Rioja (UR) and the Catalan Institute of Cork Foundation (ICSuro) have renewed their collaboration agreement initially signed in 2017 for four years and extendable for another four years to consolidate their collaboration. The document was signed by the rector of the UR Juan Carlos Ayala and the president of ICSuro Joan J. Puig.

The text states that the two entities will work together to program, coordinate and develop research projects, student practices or specific training. The University of La Rioja is committed to the joint realization of the activities that are scheduled, with the technical and material resources that are determined by mutual agreement. The Institut Català del Suro, for its part, will facilitate the visit of the students of La Rioja to its facilities as well as to the cork manufacturing companies in the area.

This agreement gives continuity to the collaboration that the two entities have maintained for 5 years and that has materialized in several sessions of sensory training on cork by the technical staff of the ICSuro or the contribution of the UR to the oxidation marker analyzes for still wines from the research project GO OTHER promoted by ICSuro, among other collaborations.

The signing of this agreement responds to the commitment of the Institut Català del Suro Foundation ofprovide training on cork in the oenology faculties of the country for future winemakers to learn how cork interacts with wine and the influence it has on its optimal evolution in the bottle. Also, thanks for the work you do Cork Center Lab, ICSuro's analytical service and research laboratory, students can also learn about cork from a technical perspective: UNE and ISO standards on cork stoppers for still and sparkling wines, controls of quality of the wine industry and latest innovations on cork-wine interaction.