Hi, I’ve been researching cork taint and I have a question that the experts might be able to help me with: There are various estimates of the incidence of cork taint in bottles of wine placed on the market, ranging from around 0.5% up to 8% and more. Are we to assume from these figures, without debating which figures are actually correct, that cork taint is evenly distributed throughout all corks produced? Looking at how cork taint comes about it seems unlikely that this is the case. It would seem more probable that there would be pockets of tainted corks within the overall production. Does this mean, therefore, that one wine bottler could be unlucky and have 100% of a batch contaminated whilst another bottler could be 100% free of taint? Or doesn’t it work like that?
I think it’s unlikely for an entire batch to be TCA laden, but yes, from what I understand batches do vary in percentage of tainted corks. Remember, too, that there are various grades of cork. I’m not sure if there are any studies on the correlation of grading with TCA incidence, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that did, in fact, exist.
Thanks Rick, I felt that had to be the case but couldn’t find confirmation anywhere.
FWIW the variation in estimates of the percentage of tainted bottles probably corresponds to the large variation in perception. Some people can’t smell it at any concentration, others can smell it a mile away. I remember one day I got home from work and poured a glass of Chardonnay. I was enjoying the first few sips and then I thought maybe I got that wet cardboard whiff. I was standing in the kitchen wondering, hmm, is this bottle corked or not? My wife walked into the house and yelled “WHAT is that SMELL!”
Anecdotally, I can say I have had a couple of experiences where multiple bottles of the same wine purchased in the same lot (and even in one case bottles of different wines from the same producer, same vintage) were all corked. Of course, once I have opened a corked bottle I am extra attentive to possible taint in another bottle of the same wine – particularly if it is a “second try” at the same sitting. More frequently, I have had one or more bottles from a case (or smaller lot) in which I did not detect any problem, and then later have opened a bottle that clearly seemed corked. I suppose it is possible that all the bottles were tainted and either (1) the levels of taint varied, with some below my personal threshold for noticing it, or (2) the levels were all around my personal threshold and simply noticed it more some days than others. Explanation (1), at least, is consistent with the fact that when I have noticed the taint in multiple bottles from a lot, it has been more pronounced in some bottles than in others. – Matt
John, if you are doing “research” in cork taint etc etc there is an superb book completely dedicated to the subject as well as to the development and pros and cons of various alternative closures, as well as an extensive bibliography of the field: To Cork or Not to Cork…by George Taber all of the questions you asked are exhaustively covered and, IMO, anyone interested in the field as you are, would be well served to read this book before proceeding anywhere else…as just about everything is here.
Very good book - very vinonerdly, too. The best thing is that you can find the hardback edition in used condition on Amazon for about $4 (with shipping included).
I came across this article recently and am curious as to other thoughts on this:
It sounds like maybe much of the TCA mustiness is blamed on cork when often it can be other issues in the wine making/bottling process.
There are certainly other potential sources for TCA infected wines that cork. That said, I think it’s pretty hard to maintain that cork is not the primary cartier. It appears that the site you linked to is cork industry related, for what that is worth
That’s a good point. I have to say personally, I am a wine newbie. So far, I have not come across cork taint, but have heard a bit about it. Do you think eventually wine closures will go toward synthetic and screw caps predominantly? I recently saw “Zorks” being used on some of the Aussie wines. Thoughts on those?