Where else does TCA appear?

Recent pack of (NV) Trident chewing gum, Cuvee Peppermint, paper-in-foil closure. I swear it’s corked! Confirmed with second sample from the same package.

Could this be the evil TCA or is it something else? Where else can it be found?

Curious whether I would’ve been as sensitive to, or disgusted by, this horrible flavor note sans prior wine experience.

Baby carrots, shipping boxes/pulp…

The only other time I perceived it was on a cardboard box I got in the mail, which contained a magnum of Ampelos pinot noir (a gift from a friend who is close with that winery). The box absolutely reeked of it, and my hands reeked of it just for handling the box. The closed bottle smelled strongly of TCA well. But, when I opened the bottle, the wine inside was perfectly fine.

I think it can live in paper, cardboard, wood, and other substances, but I don’t know as a practical matter how often anyone encounters it on various things.

I get the same thing from raw carrots too on occasion. I’ve had salads with carrots that I couldn’t eat because they reeked of TCA. I’m not sure if that is TCA or just something else in the carrots, but it definitely smells like TCA. I haven’t really noticed it in cooked carrots. Paper napkins would be the other one. Some smell awful.

HVS tasting in Sacramento a couple years ago, I thought every wine was corked. Eventually we figured out the source of contamination was some of the cardboard boxes the glasses were packed in.

The current batch of paper towels in the men’s restroom at the office is corked.

I have had a similar experience as Larry described above, where a cardboard box was corked. Every bottle of wine in it (all unopened) smelled corked on the outside, but after we threw the box outside, wiped down the bottles, and then got around to opening them, the wines themselves were fine.

Once I thought an entire street was corked as I walked along it.

Apples are the worst offender I have found in daily life. There also seems to be a certain spot on hwy 1 just past the town of Mendocino where the trees/forest are corked. On warmer days it reeks like TCA.

bananas

I’m glad you said apples, because I have noticed what seems like TCA on apples but thought it was just me…

Yup, Kyle…I’d say it’s about once a month I’ll be walking down the aisle at our local Smith’s (Kroger’s)
and pick up the smell of TCA. I’m always compelled to sniff around on the shelf and identify the exact guilty
product. Once, it was a cake food mix right across the aisle from the wine department. I signaled the
wine manager over & asked him to take a sniff and what was it he smelled. He just shook his head in puzzlement…
had no clue.

As for baby carrots…it offends my sensibilities to see this bag of baby carrots all the same shape & size. Not
as nature intended carrots to be. Anybody have any idea what happens to the leftover parts from the production
of baby carrots?? Sorry for the thread drift.
Tom

According to one website the leftover parts are used for “juicing or animal fodder”…

I’ve had corked water which was very off putting.

I think they’re the cracked ones, they grind off the bad bits. Then presumably bathe them in chlorinated water, which explains the TCA.

I would add potatoes to the list.

had a corked bottle of water once at Flagstaff House–wine was fine, water corked, somm agreed.

Outdoor garden bark can be corked. I’ve experienced many outdoor environments that had a TCA aroma. In winter weather, hospital doorways, where there is a lot of moisture and they use bleach for cleaning.

+1 on bananas and carrots. Also pallets, and sadly, a bottle of 18 yr Macallan single malt(cork stopper).

Ahhhhhhh…that explains why my GrandPa’s pigs had such incredible vision!!
Tom

I’ve had black tea that had TCA, and about a month ago, I threw out a bottle of Tabasco that was unmistakably corked ( they age the tabasco in barrels).

I have never had it happen, but I am told olive oil as well.

I used to work at a custom crush facility near Napa and all of their well water smelled corked for a short time. They fixed the probably quickly. It turned out to be TBA, not TCA, but they smell almost identical.

There’s a restaurant I go to a few times a year near Sebastopol that almost always has corked water. It’s one of the few restaurants where I order bottled water instead of just drinking tap.

I’ve noticed there are several corked people in public places walking around this planet. It’s probably a wool coat or sweater that they’re wearing, but I still refer to them as corked people.