Corked Wines.

[winegoddess_jen]

I haven't heard yet that the storage of bottled wines would cause a corky/musty taste. It's always the cork that is 'infected' with TCA when you've the real corky taste!


But: since a few years it's known that not only the TCA (2,4,6-Trichloranisol) causes the corky taste. There's also another substance called TBA (2,4,6-Tribromanisol) that is similiar in the appearance to the TCA. And guess what?! It's not coming from the cork!

Scary, huh? And believe me: not only for the customer!! [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

TBA could be proven in the wooden floor and also the coating of ship-containers. High humidity and the lack of aeration affords optimal conditions for the development of micro organisms which are forming TBP into TBA. That could happen if the ship containers are steam blasted shortly before they are loaded.
Since the TBA is outstandingly soluble in plastics it's able to concentrate in the packaging foil of (empty and new) bottles, synthetic corks and even in the synthetic corks!

And that's not all: analysis can expose packaging cartons of the outer package of bottles as a contamination source. Mainly if the paper board containers are stored in a bad aerated room. Plus there's a high humidity in the room (that happens if the paper board containers are stored directly besides the bottling line = the steaming of the bottling line supplies enough humidity to allow the micro organisms forming TBP to TBA).

Even filter sheets can be a contamination source for TBA.

But how can TBA reach into wines?

TBA is a covalent molecule with a relative high vapor pressure; i. e. the substance passes into the ambient atmosphere. The TBA can contaminate other substances in that way. Hence the exact reason is difficult to find because TBA is allocated over the atmosphere and then it can concentrate in suitable substances.

So, you see behind all that 'corky taste' in wine is more than just the cork by itself...

BTW: the cork industry spends a lot of money analysing cork batches on TCA to keep the amount of corky taste in wines very low! Plus there exist corresponding analyses at the (bigger) wineries.
And there is done a lot of research in other closures such as the VinoLock recently. But the success of the other new closures such as Screw Cap and VinoLock depends on the acceptance of the WINE LOVERS/Costumers = YOU!!

Since you don't accept other closures (or don't ask your wine retailer or at 'your' winery about it) you have to handle with some corky wines - which is not nice, but most of the wineries are that nice that they'd take that corky bottle back and give you a new one. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

Jen

PS: Looks not nice but maybe helps getting slightly corked wines better: put a plastic foil in the wine... the TCA/TBA diffuses into the foil...