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