There’s still hope for those who enjoy pulling corks from wine bottles. Research at Giesenheim in Germany by Professor Manfred Grossman indicates it may be possible to considerably reduce, but not entirely eliminate TCA-derived cork taint in wine by using a benign, naturally occurring mould to suppress the fungi which cause the taint. Commercial-scale tests are under way. Noel Heyes, managing director of cork importer Cork & Seals, expects Australia and the US to be amongst the first wine producing nations to benefit from the procedure and expects the first mould-treated corks to be available here later this year.
