Cork taint (TCA)

Cork taint refers to an olfactory fault caused mainly by 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, the molecule identified in 1982 by Buser, Zanier and Tanner. Detectable from about 2 to 4 nanograms per litre, it evokes wet cardboard, damp cellar and mouldy cork. Its distinctive trait lies in suppressing olfactory receptors rather than stimulating them, which mutes the fruit and leaves the wine flat, dull and stripped of aromatic expression.