Molecule In Corked Wine Plugs Up Your Nose 134
sciencehabit writes "Ever send a bottle of wine back at a restaurant? If you weren't just being a pretentious snob, then it was probably because the wine seemed 'corked' — had a musty odor and didn't taste quite right. Most likely, the wine was contaminated with a molecule called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), the main cause of cork taint. But a new study by Japanese researchers concludes that you do not smell TCA directly; rather, TCA blocks up your sense of smell and distorts your ability to detect odors. The findings could help the food and beverage industry improve its products and lead to less embarrassment for both you and your waiter."
So stop using corks (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, other than nostalgia why are they still using corks when much better methods have existed for decades?
Re:So stop using corks (Score:5, Interesting)
Very true. Stelvin closures, Plastic corks, glass stoppers, all superior. The really amazing part if all the labour that goes into each real cork. Cut, cleaned, bleached, sorted, the re-sorted, much of it by hand. It's actually amazing that they're so cheap. It really sucks when a bad $0.30 cork ruins a 60$ bottle of wine.
Re:So stop using corks (Score:2, Interesting)
I agree that wine drinkers are usually guilty of pretension, but let's not pretend like taste and price have "almost nothing" in common. If you go buy 4 random bottles of $8 wine and 4 random bottles of $20 wine, you'll taste a substantial difference even in a blinded test. I'd guess that 1/2 of $20 bottles of wine are enjoyable as opposed to about 1/5 of $8 bottles.
That said, a good $8 bottle might be every bit as good as the good $20 bottles.