Does Your Wine Smell Funky? TCA May Not Be to Blame

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for the Mar. 31, 2011 issue

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Stephanie Cain, Ben O'Donnell
Issue: March 31, 2011

For years, wine fans have raged against TCA, the chemical compound blamed for corked wine. But TCA, or 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, is not the only cause of moldy, earthy, wet cardboard aromas in your wine. Since 2004, scientists have known of another compound—MDMP, or 2-methyoxy-3,5-dimethylpyrazine—that can leach out of corks and into wine, but they haven't understood where it comes from. Wine Spectator's Stephanie Cain and Ben O'Donnell report.

For the full article, check out the new issue of Wine Spectator, on newsstands March 1, 2011.

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