Is my wine corked? How to know if a wine is corked .... And what to do about it!

What is cork taint? 

Technically, it is a taint in your wine caused by a chemical compound trichloroanisole (TCA) and possibly some others. If this compound has developed in the cork, or in the oak barrel, that your wine has had contact with, the wine will go on to develop the aromas and flavours that are described as ‘corked’. Unfortunately, this may happen despite the careful measures taken by the wine producer to prevent it from occurring. 

What does it smell/taste like? 

Your wine may smell and/or taste mouldy, musty or like soggy wet cardboard! Or it simply might be dull and seem lifeless. These undesirable, and let’s face it unpleasant, characters will mask or detract from the lovely sweet fruit flavours and aromas you were expecting. Regrettably, it only takes a tiny amount of TCA in your normally fruity glass of white, rosé or red wine for it to just not smell or taste as it usually does or as it should. 

But wait, cork taint has a bit of a quirk.... Another quirk of cork taint is that might find that your friend is screwing their nose up at the smell of the wine and you just cannot smell what they are smelling. This is common too. But don’t feel discouraged, because we all have different levels of sensitivity to TCA. Some people can smell the faintest traces of it, like a tracker dog while others will require larger amounts of it to be present for them to detect it and will go on to enjoy the wine as they normally would. 

What to do about it? 

Sadly, if you can smell or taste cork taint in your wine, there is nothing to be done for that particular bottle. And it usually is bottle specific. Therefore, contact the retailer you purchased it from, and they should arrange for it to be refunded or replaced. If you are in a bar or restaurant, ask for a new bottle! As a last resort, keep the bottle and the cork and contact the address on the back of the label. Reputable wine sellers will always replace or refund a wine if it is faulty, no questions asked. As the old adage goes, ‘Life is too short for bad wine’. In this case, it is a genuine fault and hopefully a new bottle will lead to happier times again.