Compounds causing cork taint and the factors affecting their transfer from natural cork closures to wine – a review

The compounds causing cork taint and the factors affecting their transmission from cork to wine are discussed. These factors include: the solubilities of the taint compounds in wine, their affinity for the surface and the interior parts of the cork; their location on the surface of and within the closure; the rates at which they can migrate through the cork matrix; the volume of wine in contact with a closure(s); and whether taint transmission is taking place in bottled wine or with corks soaked in wine for screening purposes. 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) has been the primary topic of investigations reported in the general literature and is therefore the main focus of this article.