TCA taste in composite corks

Do you think that composite corks are more likely to give off a mild TCA taste than natural corks? I do think so. Do you think this characteristic might in my case be due to a high average temperature of my cellar? It averages 70 degrees.

Thank Yee

Rod, I am not a fan of composite corks, but I can't see why they might be more prone to TCA than a regular cork. I do wonder though about the glue (or whatever) that holds the ground cork in it's shape. Is there no way you can reduce the temperature? while 70 degrees won't ruin your wine, it probably will shorten the effective life of them.

Do you think that composite corks are more likely to give off a mild TCA taste than natural corks? I do think so. Do you think this characteristic might in my case be due to a high average temperature of my cellar? It averages 70 degrees.

Thank Yee

Any porous material in and around wine, especially wood products, is a candidate for TCA infection. Also, you say "mild TCA taste." Generally, TCA comes at you first and foremost as an aroma.

I don't think temperature has anything much to do with TCA infection. As Bob says, though, 70 degrees F is on the high side for cellaring wine, but not because of TCA.

There have been problems in the past with agglomerated corks. Most of the ones used these days have disks of whole cork at the business end, but even then I've had problems with them.

Some years ago there was an agglomerated cork called 'Altec' that ruined lots of wine. It would seem that one badly corked chunk mixed in with the good taints the whole batch.

Rod, my experience with composite corks and TCA has been terrible - the frequency of corked wines has been very high for me.

The only closures I now have faith in are either high-quality solid cork, glass stoppers or screwcaps ... though for quality reds I do prefer solid cork over anything else. I also don't like plastic corks, even though the TCA problem is not relevant there.

Yes you are correct it is a TCA aroma on the first part of the tasting experience. It seems very common with the composite cork wines. I wonder if there is some science to support my observation.

Yes you are correct it is a TCA aroma on the first part of the tasting experience. It seems very common with the composite cork wines. I wonder if there is some science to support my observation.

Well, the transfer of TCA from cork to wine is a solid-liquid extraction, the efficiency of which depends on the surface-to-volume ratio of the solid. So, a cork formed of cork particles reassmbled into a cylinder probably has a higher S/V, but whether enough to make a difference I dunno. If the wine can perfuse through the cork that would make quite a difference, but the composite corks I've seen seem to behave as a solid entity. I also recall reading about at least one composite cork manufacturer who treated all the cork particles before reassembly to remove all the TCA.

Mark Lipton

Dan Berger swears it is the resin in the cork that mimicks TCA. He is pretty convincing -- he has a high rate of finding composite corks when tasting wines blinded.

Do you have a link to the discussion of Dan Berger. Sorry if I should know who he is? The cork that prompted this posting had about a .2" penetration of the wine into the cork.

Here's a link to Dan Berger:

http://www.vintageexperiences.com/pages/dans-credentials.php