Understanding TCA Is a Steep Learning Curve

A couple of parting thoughts about this week’s discussion of TCA taint in wineries.

I don't blame any of the wineries for what happened to their cellars and then to their wines. They are primarily victims of circumstance and are not inattentive or negligent vintners.

TCA is an insidious presence that has ruined countless wines. For me, any TCA in a wine is a flaw, yet I know that it exists in many wines and often goes undetected by many people or unrecognized for what it is, even when it leaves the drinker disappointed in the wine.

The incidence of both cork taint and systemic TCA in wines is a serious issue for the industry and for us.

Writing about TCA the past few years has been a new learning experience for all of us at Wine Spectator. This episode reminded me of a couple of things that go back to my first writings about wine, and they still ring true.

Once I began to appreciate and study wine, I found out that it is an endlessly fascinating subject that can lead you down all sorts of interesting paths, some more predictable than others.

I knew early on that there would always be someone who knew more about wine than I did, and I tried to learn from them.

I also knew that there would be better tasters and better writers, too.

I appreciated the fact that there is always something new about wine, and if you pay attention and keep an open mind, you’ll never stop learning.

Even when it involves a subject as complex and difficult to comprehend as TCA.