Looking for lab to test for TCA

Leo, you really should have returned the bottle. I no longer have any qualms about doing that as most restaurants understand all too well and simply return the damaged wines to their wholesaler. To me, that's much better than suffering through an evening courtesy of a corked wine.

Why? Don't you trust your own impression? To me, there is rarely any doubt that a wine is corked. If it's corked enough for you to suspect it, why do you need confirmation?

AFAIK, ETS is the only outfit in the US that routinely tests for TCA. However, any reasonably equipped testing lab has the capability of doing it. You can detect TCA by both HPLC and GC, so any lab that does drug testing could do TCA testing provided that you can supply them with an authentic sample of pure TCA to use as a standard. The problem will be convincing a lab to do it if you're only giving them business every once in a while. It is a bit of work to retool a chromtagraphy setup for a different standard.

Mark Lipton

I have returned wines by the glass that were undrinkable because of poor storage or being opened too long. Went to a nice restaurant in Tulsa and ordered a glass of the Chandon Pinot Menuier. I have had it in the past and enjoy the wine but this one was bitter water. They opened a new bottle no problem at all.

This was a place where I know the owner; he was not in and I did not want to hassle with the new staff with whom I am not well-acquainted. On second thought, though, I should have sent it back as you indicate.

There are some wines that are clearly corked, however, there comes a point where they are close to my detection treshold (which, by the way, I don't know what it is) so it would be psychologically satisfying to know accurately how much TCA was in the product.

I am also starting to think that there is another chemical or group of chemicals that produce what I call the "old armoire" feel, where the wine loses the fruit and takes on an old woody drawer scent.

I am wondering whether that sense is a function of the matrix in which the TCA is found; have only gotten it from red wines. That was the sense from the wine by the glass I also did not drink that night.

I'll keep looking for one that'll do it. Sigma-Aldrich sells TCA as well as a Spectra Chemicals [I think that was the name], which, by the way, would not sell me their standard solution because I was just a private person.

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I doubt you'll find a better price. ETS in St Helena - in the same building as the Napa Vintners - is the premiere lab. If you're ever in their building, you'll see labs filled with glassware and white-coated technicians.

Dana