TCA with a stelvin

Some friends brought over an inexpensive primitivo last night. It had a screw top.

Distinct wet cardboard smell noticed by everyone in different glasses.

Not sure if this had been rebottled from cork or the TCA got in at another point in the process. Nothing earth shattering, just a data point.

Cork is the most common, but certainly not only source of TCA…

I have had a wine that was corked and under screw cap.
Must have been introduced at the winery, bummer.

From the barrel as well.

Some wineries have systemic TCA contamination.

BV used to have this I guess.

There have been other cases of systemic tca issues over the past 2 decades - some caused by airborne chlorine cleaners, some by old wood pallets, and a few other causes.

In a situation like this, I’d try to get a second bottle to ensure it is truly systemic . . .

Cheers.

I had a corked bottle of water at Hospice du Rhone one year.

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

Yeah, I posted this because I still hear folks refuse to accept that it’s possible (a sommelier in one case I remember).

I’ve had Diet Coke infected with TCA on several occasions.

But you’re Bob Wood, so you might have been the one who introduced the TCA into the Diet Coke.

You’ll note I’m not Bob Chlorine, however. [snort.gif]

Yeah but if it’s diet Coke, who would really notice? The people who put that into their mouths, well . . .

neener

Yeah, I posted this because I still hear folks refuse to accept that it’s possible (a sommelier in one case I remember).

So not to bang on somms, but that’s a perfect example of why it’s a crapshoot to pay attention to them. Some of them really are smart and borderline brilliant. Many are just, well, waiters who don’t really know squat and they’re just in that job until they get their acting break when Bruce Willis turns the part down.

But as mentioned, it’s not only from cork, although it usually is. It can come from the barrels or elsewhere. I’ve had it with synthetic corks and screwcaps.

That said, those instances stand out because they’re rare. Cork on the other hand . . .

And again to me, the question is whether another bottle of that same wine is affected in the same way. THAT would show systemic issues with ‘certainty’ . . . or at least as much as possible.

Cheers.

Both Napa and Santa Rosal city water smells corked to me.

I’ll take my country-fied sulfur water full of mercury over that clean stuff!

I had a corked bottle of bourbon once. Didn’t bother my friends but I couldn’t drink it.

Most likely TCA’s cousin TBA which can affect an empty bottle then affect the wine when the bottle is filled. Comes from glass packed in cardboard containers versus plastic when delivered to the winery.

Are you sure that wasn’t just Islay Scotch? :wink:

We had this from a new barrel once. We bottled that bbl separately to see what the wine would do. Surprisingly, after 4 years in bottle, it was clean and in fact quite good.

Preferably from the same case (i.e.: lot). It’s possible that only a particular lot got infected.

So, do you have any theories as to what you were smelling from that bbl? Is it safe to assume it wasn’t TCA?