I got a case of wine delivered today to a friend’s house (a fellow wino), and once opened there was a distinct smell of TCA inside (the standard cardboard box with a styro innard). Both of us could smell it on the bottles still even after removed from the box. The box was not brand new, the retailer had reused a box from an earlier shipment from a different retailer (a practice I generally applaud as long as the box is in good shape). It was an unmixed case of 11 bottles of the same wine, same vintage.
I removed a capsule from one of the bottles to smell the cork’s top (also reasoning that beneath the capsule had been semi-protected from any aromas coming from the box itself) and it was totally free of any TCA smells.
This ever happened to others here, where it appears the cardboard box is the source of the TCA-like smell? Any grounds for concern about the wine? I may open one of the bottles soon to give it a test drive.
When I worked retail we’d get boxes that would make a 15 foot radius smell like TCA. Pretty ridiculous. However, it was a good, cheap way to educate staff and customers what corked wine smells like.
Check out this thread. I got a magnum once in a box that smelled twice as much of TCA as any wine ever. So much so that my hands reeked of it the rest of the day just for handling the box. Cardboard and other materials can get TCA contamination.
But the wine was fine once I finally opened it. I don’t know if it’s at more risk than if the box weren’t contaminated, but my guess is there is no real connection.
I’ve seen this twice that I can recall. None of the wines were affected, which is consistent with most of the posts and the AWRI study mentioned in the thread Chris linked to. I don’t store the wines in cardboard, but doubt that would be an issue for the wines either.
Well…tca smells like cardboard right?
I am by no means an expert but Ive had boxes like that and never had s problem with the wine. Ive always assumed the box got humid at some point. Ive had some boxes get wet in the past and stink forever afterwards.
I’ve seen it happen with shippers and cases of wine in general. A lot of things get shipped on pallets covered in plastic. If it gets wet at any point (or refrigerated/climate control will do it) the plastic traps in the moisture. Voila, mold or the TCA-like smell.
As others have noted above, this is very common. I have never had the odor transfer to a wine, however. But I find the smell just unnerving, no matter where it is (those little cello-packed carrots are big offenders, for some reason).
