T’ain’t Necessarily Corks (June 2007)

By Tim Patterson

Outed by the Spectator's James Laube
The way in which the winery TCA issue has surfaced--through exposure in the wine press--has added its own dimension to the story. What is the propriety of "outing" wineries that were, up until that point, selling their wine readily and getting good scores? Can everyone detect low levels of TCA, or just "super-tasters," and should that select few set the standard? And once a winery has received this unwelcome spotlight , how should it handle the public relations fallout?

Almost all of the fuss centers on one particular wine critic, James Laube of the Wine Spectator. Laube clearly has a high degree of sensitivity to TCA, identifying it at extremely low levels (under two parts per trillion) and he also strongly feels that consumers should be made aware of wines that contain TCA. Laube's method has always involved testing of the wines in question by outside labs, as well as discussions with winery owners and staff, and in every case he has been right-- that is, the wines did contain TCA and not from corks.

But if Laube is the only one who can taste TCA at these very low levels, is there really a problem?