Is there any merit to corks that say stuff like this? This was in a bottle of chateau de pizay morgon. A few months ago I had a bottle of chateau le coin sauvignon gris, of which the cork said "TCA free", but I didn't take a picture of it. Do the cork producers just make this up or is there an actual remedy against cork taint now. I know that cork taint is increasingly less prevalent, but most sources still say about 1-3% of bottles sealed under natural cork suffer from cork taint.
by DippPhoeny
11 Comments
“Garanteed”
Fist we had cork soakers.
Now we have cork taint.
I sure hate it when my cork is tainted. Tainted cork is the worst.
I had a tainted cork once and the doctor said it was the worst case of tainted cork he had ever seen.
Yes, Diam closures are legit.
It’s cork, that is shredded into tiny pieces, treated to ensure no TCA, and then recomposed back together
The key thing to note is that this is a DIAM cork. It’s a brand of agglomerated cork made of cork particles that is then processed using supercritical carbon dioxide which removes any trace of TCA. It’s not quite synthetic, but it’s also not totally natural either. It performs just as well as natural cork, to my knowledge, but the cost difference to the producer is fairly significant. I always give kudos when I am with a producer and see that they use DIAM corks.
But really we should all switch to screw caps 😝
Yes, absolutely.
If you want TCA free Vinventions is the better option. Diam is 30% glue by mass.
These engineered corks are certainly more TCA proof than natural, without a doubt…. HOWEVER…. There have been cases where TCA was introduced to wineries because the wooden pallet that the engineered corks were delivered on were infected with TCA… I believe it eas in Australia some 15-20yrs ago…. But that can happen with any shipment.
DIAM corks go through a process that removes all TCA particles. These claims on DIAM corks are accurate.
DIAM corks are not cheap. After working for my current employer that uses them, I can say ZERO TCA bottles in 3 years that I’ve been here. Most places it was 1 or 2 a week.
I use the diam to know how long to age it too. Diam 5 (about 5 years), Diam 10 (about 10 years), etc. Not sure if it’s right or not, but it’s what I do.
Yes. I’ve been using them (DIAM and CWINE) exclusively for 15 years on 3-6k cases per year. I’ve found one corked bottle since we switched.
More than that, the closure integrity and consistency is incredible.
Not all agglomerated corks are great, but these are better than naturals.
What do people think of glass closures? As a consumer I think they’re kind of neat, except when they’re covered with wax. I normally just put my corkscrew through the wax to pull a cork, doesn’t work so well with glass.
They are great. You can still get TCA taint but it wont be from a DIAM cork