A wine described as ‘corked’ does not have fragments of cork floating in it, but rather the wine has a musty smell usually caused by contamination by the chemical compound TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole). This is usually caused when airborne fungi are in contact with chlorophenols which then convert to chloroanisole and adversely affect the aroma and taste of the wine. Ironically chlorophenols may result from the very process used to sterilize corks.
Until the bottle is opened buyers do not know it is corked and this lottery has led to the increasing adoption of screw caps or synthetic stoppers. For years there was a perception that screw tops and plastic corks meant the wine must be poor quality but as more premium vintners adopt screw tops, this negative opinion is disappearing.
