TCA in Port = corked Port ... how is your perception?

[Roy Hersh]

2.4.6 Trichloranisole = TCA

TCA is what causes your Port or wine to be corked. A corked wine is tainted and flawed and rarely leaves any pleasure for consumers to enjoy. In fact, although you can't get sick from a small amount of it, it certainly can be a most unpleasant sensorial experience.

Some say it smells like dirty/sweaty gym socks, while others use great descriptors such as:
* Musty
* Mushrooms
* Wet cardboard
* Wet newspapers
... and worse, but I won't repeat those.

Some folks can tell when a wine or Port is corked upon first sniff. Others will drink a glass or bottle of badly corked wine and not mind at all. I have seen both ends of the spectrum with table wines as well as Port.

Believe it or not, TCA is measured in: parts per trillion!!! Some people are much more prone to perceive TCA in trace amounts while others seem unaware or immune (I wish I was the latter) to it.

So are you one to pick it up easily or immediately? Or do you fall into the group that just doesn't sense it? Of course, you may fall somewhere in between as well. I'd like to hear of your sensitivity.

For those that want to learn more about the basics, please check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint

[Moses Botbol]

No one wants to be the first in the group to say TCA, but I can certainly detect it when it's pronounced, as most I think would. For sure most would know it's "off", but more specifically why... maybe not.

[Andy Velebil]

While I'm not quite as sensitive as Roy is, I am pretty good at picking it out fairly early on. I think its one of the those things that once your exposed to it several times, and you know what to look for, then it's pretty easy to spot from then on. Of course, having a good honker helps too :)

I would say people are more sensitive to it than they think, but just don't admit the bottles corked or just don't know. Here's why:

The hardest thing for people to admit, especially people who are not wine connoisseurs, is that their bottle is corked. Among wine-educated drinkers it is known that there is nothing one can do about a corked bottle. It was cork from the day it was bottled and has nothing to do with how it was stored or where it was bought.

However, for those not as familiar with wine, they can take it very personal that the bottle they brought is flawed. This leads to some people not saying anything or refusing to admit anything is wrong with the bottle. All that does is make the problem worse as now people are drinking a bottle that is nowhere near as good as it should be and may prevent those drinking it from ever trying that wine, or other wine, again.

Education is the key....education that it's not a consumers fault that a wine is corked. That there is nothing they did that made the bottle faulty and that its alright to admit that a wine is flawed.

[Roy Hersh]

Reminds me of that moment in the film: Good Will Hunting, when Robin Williams (Dr. Sean) looks over at Matt Damon and says repeatedly, "Will, it is not your fault." He continues, until Will is boo hooing all over Sean's office.

[Kris Henderson]

I'm somewhere in the middle. It used to be difficult for me to know when a wine is corked. But now that I have experienced corked wines several times I know what to look for and it's not too difficult for me to spot it.

My perception of a corked wine is mainly on the nose with the "wet cardboard" aroma. I haven't learned yet to pick out a specific TCA taste on the palate.

[Felix Warners]

When I was making a trip a few years ago with my brother we ate in a 2 michelin star restaurant on the way home. The meal was perfect but when the desert arrived and we smelled the dish it smelled Corked! The gelatine (I cant remind the exact desert) was made of a certain wine which must have been corked, we asked for the sommelier and told him our desert was corked. Luckily we were the first to taste the dessert of the guest and I like to think we saved them some negative responses from other guests.
Also patissiers have to check the wine they use when they use it in there desserts.

[Scott Anaya]

Yeah, now that I have had experience with dozens (emphasis on the 's') of corked wines, I am pretty receptive to detecting it. Sometimes it may take well through the first glass to call it if it is very slight.

I describe it as Grandma's basement......maybe just mine though, and not yours?

[Glenn E.]

It drives my wife nuts, but I criticize my own cooking every time I prepare dinner. I do the same with my Ports for no other reason that speaking my thoughts about the wine helps me solidify my memories for later use. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I don't believe I have ever tasted a corked Port (or wine) yet, so perhaps I have just been lucky.

[Moses Botbol]

Had a Dow 77 with slight TCA on Saturday. This is the second bottle from this case, and this bottle showed more TCA than the first one. Too bad, as I kept thinking, "This is a great port except for that slight musty taste". It did not stop me from drinking it, and the next day, it was less pronounced.

[Todd Pettinger]

I have been fortunate to have very few bottles that were badly corked. I am not 100% sure on all the signs, but I think I am beginning to notice a pattern with the bottles that I have. When in doubt - I post and get feedback. Most of the time it appears that others suspect when I detect is indeed TCA.

I just need to spend more time hanging out with Roy who apparently is akin to a bomb-sniffing-dog, but with TCA.

I suppose to fully answer the question, I would be somewhere in the middle of the spectrum (I think) and can sometimes get past a bot of TCA in a Port. If it is bad however, I have poured bottles down the sink.

Todd

[Jeffrey Karp]

I've always perceived the TCA smell similar to the smell of band-aids. Most of the corked bottles that I have had over the years are from Dow's. I opened one '77 recently that was corked and in the past it was usually the '83 Dow's that was corked most often.

[Roy Hersh]

JK,

I think you need to start disposing of your corked Ports. I have a feeling that Mrs. K. sneaks in with her girlfriends, drains a bottle of Port (she being a Dow Port lover too) and then refills your Dow stash with the same TCA infected juice over and over. For your own good, get rid of that bottle, man!

[Jeffrey Karp]

Roy,

I've taken your advice and installed a hidden camera just outside the vinotemp. If she's switching, I'll find out soon enough and then......."No Port for You/her!"

Were getting psyched for the tour! 7 months exactly from today!

Best regards,

Jeff