Definition: cork taint (2)

The Latour restaurant, winner of the "Grand Award" at Crystal Spring in New Jersey, USA, believes it has taken the first step in this direction. In collaboration with Matthew Augustine, associate professor of chemistry at the University of California, Davis, the restaurant purchased a £50,000 device in 2007.This is not a device intended for everyday wines, says Gene Mulvihill, owner of the Latour restaurant, which sponsored the development of the machine. It is really a device intended for the top 1% of wines. The device is equipped with a metal tube that fits over the neck of the bottle. The air in the bottle is sucked out by vacuum. Molecules from the cork and foil are captured by a special fibre contained in this suction sleeve, without the need to penetrate the foil or cork. Within 15 minutes, this fibre is processed in a second device which analyses it using gas chromatography and spectrometry measurements. The owner, Mulvihill, tested this method over a period of more than a year, using corks affected by TCA. He is convinced that the devices are capable of detecting TCA down to one part per trillion.
This development follows two years after the development of the first MRI device that can detect bottles of wine that are oxidised or have high levels of acetic acid (the main acid in vinegar).
Mulvihill was able to test all the high-priced wines in his restaurant's cellar, ensuring that all oxidised or corked wines were removed from the inventory.
He now hopes to commercialise this technique by leasing the devices to auction houses and other major collectors.