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Hello there! I'm Dr. Vinifera, or "Vinny" for short. Ask me your toughest wine questions, from the technical aspects of winemaking to the fine points of etiquette. I hope you find my answers educational and even amusing. Want to see more of them? Check out my archive. And here are my most Frequently Asked Questions.
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Last night I opened a bottle of wine that was corked. Several times I have heard people say, "Wait and see if it comes around." I have never seen a wine I pegged as corked come around, so I am wondering exactly how a wine so obviously corked (at least to me) would ever set itself right, and how that would happen.
—Jim P., San Antonio, Texas
Dear Jim,
Unfortunately, TCA—the pesky chemical compound (2,4,6 trichloroanisole) that is responsible for "corked" wines and results in musty notes—does not "blow off." In fact, in my experience, TCA becomes more pronounced over time. I understand why someone would suggest that an unfavorable aroma might "blow off," because some of them do dissipate with aeration (like the stinky, skunky, rotten-egg notes of reduction). Other wines that start off closed will often open up and become more expressive with air. But TCA just gets worse.
—Dr. Vinny
Do you have a question for me? Fire away!
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