Q: The other night, I had some wine that tasted "off"; it just didn't taste right. Someone mentioned that it was "corked" but how can I tell? What exactly is corked wine? Could something else cause the wine to be spoiled?

Cork Taint

A truly "corked" wine is one that has been affected by the presence of the chemical compound trichloroanisole (TCA) in the cork. This causes the wine to smell and taste very musty - like wet cardboard, wet cement, mould, or mouldy orange rind. The wine will often taste completely 'flat' and void of any real taste.

Fortunately, wines with TCA are generally not harmful to drink. Industry estimates that 2-5 per cent of wines bottled with cork may end up spoiled because of TCA. Hence, industry has attempted to solve the problem of corked wine by using closures other than cork. Nowadays, you will find wine bottled with synthetic corks or aluminum screwcaps, which cleanly cap the wine without contaminating the contents.

Yeast (Brettanomyces)

Sometimes a wine is spoiled because of the presence of a spoilage yeast called Brettanomyces. At high levels, it causes wine to smell and taste like a smelly barnyard or wet dog. At low levels, it can actually add character to the wine.

Volatile Acidity

Wine can be spoiled when the acid balance in it is too high and affects the flavour. Wines that are spoiled due to volatile acidity fault will often be described as having a smell and taste that ranges from nail polish remover, vinegar to boiled eggs or burnt rubber.

Q: What exactly does the term "crémant" mean on sparkling wine? Is it simply a sparkling wine from France-other than Champagne-or is there something more to it?

"Crémant" (pronounced "cray-mawn") originally indicated a less-bubbly style of sparkling wine. Think gentle fizz, not the nose-tingling experience of some bubblies.

You're correct that the term is also used to designate sparkling wines made by the méthode champenoise but falling outside the boundaries of the Champagne region. Crémants might also be made from grapes other than the traditional Champagne varieties. Crémant d'Alsace, for example, can be made from Pinot Blanc, Riesling or Pinot Gris.

Q: I have heard that there was or is some confusion in Chile regarding the Merlot and Carmenère grapes. Apparently it was only fairly recently discovered that many of the Merlot grapes are actually Carmenère. What's the story?

Carmenère is rarely found in Bordeaux today, but it was widely cultivated in the Medoc in the early 18th century. The grape was transplanted to Chile in the 19th century before it virtually disappeared from Bordeaux due to phylloxera.

Carmenère did well in Chile, but over time its identity got lost, and it was often confused with Merlot. The two grapes often grew side by side and were picked simultaneously, despite different ripening times. It wasn't until recent DNA profiling that its identity was separated from Merlot, and Chilean vintners began to bottle wines under the Carmenère name. Now that Carmenère is being planted separately and picked at the proper time, the wines have improved, and they are often plummy and fleshy, marked with tobacco flavors.

Q: I'd like to know how much I have to worry about TCA in my cellar. I store wine in the crawlspace of my house (generally pretty good conditions), however, I would occasionally like to kill mold with a bleach solution but I worry about the effect this might have on stored wine. I understand some wineries have had an issue with this. Do I need to worry about this?

This is one situation where the cure is worse than the disease. I advise against the use of any chlorine product in wineries, wine cellars, or anything in the area code of anything wine-related. We haven't seen data about the migration of TCA from a cellar into sealed bottles, but why tempt fate?

Besides, what's so awful about a little mold? Many European wine cellars look like mold farms, yet the wines are great. Unless the bottles are destined for auction (where pristine, mold-free labels fetch higher prices), I'd not bother with the mold.