Interesting article on new methods to eliminate TCA.
"‘We managed to deliver on an important promise, which is to be able to get rid of TCA and defeat TCA once and for all,’ says Carlos de Jesus, director of marketing and communications. Amorim did so by using temperature and pressure to remove TCA and other contaminants during production.
Meanwhile, California-based Cork Supply announced all its natural cork closures will also be TCA-free starting this year. The company is using a two-step process, modified from steam-distillation."
Sean Sullivan has made himself the wine writer of record on the subject, with several articles slicing and dicing his experiences w cork taint, and the various alternatives. This article is encouraging, but yeah, will believe it when the whole industry doesn’t smell.
The conversion won’t happen quickly regardless for collectors who have wines decades old in their cellars and inventory that will age well into the future with some percentage under infected corks.
Thanks for link. If I can find an alternative that’s cheaper than the individual TCA-free “sniffed” corks I buy now, that would be great. They’re very expensive.
It certainly is encouraging news, and great for consumers moving forward. One issue that cannot be addressed with natural corks, though, is random oxidation due to the variable nature of the starting material. That is one area that DIAM had a leg up on natural corks - what DIAM lacks is the ‘flavor and aroma’ that come with having an actual natural cork product.
There was an article on this not too long ago - talked about chemical compounds from natural cork making it into the wines. I’ll have to dig it up.
Have you done comparison trials to see how wines under DIAM evolve versus natural cork? My guess is that the evolution would be different but I’ve not seen this noted at all. Curious to hear . . .
Correct me if I’m wrong- but isn’t Cork Supply apart of Amorim now?
If Amorim can get TCA free without having agglomerated corks then that is a huge plus. The one knock I have on DIAM is that the processed look is rather cheap when you throw it in a $200 bottle.
I understand tradition but when I see a Diam cork I don’t see cheap, instead I see a winemaker that cares about their customers. Even TCA free, natural corks are still inconsistent and problematic closures.
Steam cleaning has been responsible for some of the bad batches of agglomerated corks, I’ll believe it when I see it. I wonder what level they classify as TCA-free? And of course this does nothing to solve random oxidation, as has been pointed out above.
Well they’re applying 21st century technology to a 17th century packaging solution. Next up is a new potion guaranteed to balance your body’s humors, and a free package of a dozen leeches guaranteed to be disease free.
No. The Cork Supply is still owned by Jochen Michalski, although now through the umbrella of HARV 81 Group which also owns Tonnellerie O and Studio Labels.
Both Amorim and Cork Supply have similar automated processes to analyse and remove TCA from corks, Amorim uses NDtech and Cork Supply uses DS100 and DS100+.
The way I am reading this article, they are promoting steam or other washing process to remove TCA. Those you list are the cork-by-cork inspection protocols that analyze and sort out corks having TCA, but don’t clean. Also the claim is “no additional cost” for the washed corks. Minor distinction maybe, but looking at Amorim website this looks like Naturity https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cdaf5180b77bd77f32e617b/t/60070d1f5155452ccd9c96c0/1611074850768/FT_Natural.pdf a different product than the NDtech. I don’t seem to be able find this type of washed cork listed on Cork Supply US website.
One thing I’ve wondered, and I am guessing the data exists for the sorting systems… what percentage to they remove after analysis that fail their threshold for TCA? That would tell a better picture of % of TCA infected natural corks than the anecdotal notes from human wine drinkers with wide range of ability to detect and recognize TCA.
You’re right. I misspoke. Meant it as in there are various have competing alternatives in generating a guaranteed TCA-free natural cork. NDTech and DS100 are screening technologies to ensure TCA-free corks and Naturity is a technology that removes TCA from natural corks. All three get you to the same “result” of a TCA-free natural cork. Albeit I can’t speak for the relative efficacy of each.
Early on but the cork evolution seems closest to the Diam 5.
We have a comparison of Diam 5, 10, and 30 underway, but haven’t opened anything there.
Regarding natural cork flavors, that would be interesting. Diam has natural cork, so maybe those compounds still are involved? I really do feel our wines have not lost a step on flavor with Diam, and are much more consistent under Diam so far(no TCA and showing well).
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