does it mean the wine cannot be corked? wouldn’t all wineries use it if that was the case?
by Leonard_S_Dylan
10 Comments
HairyNutsack69
It’s Diam’s branding
wine-o-saur
The cork taint is between the cork’s nuts and the cork’s butthole. This cork is made exclusively from other parts of the cork tree.
all_no_pALL
Diam Bouchage is a French cork manufacturer that uses a process involving CO2 to help “eliminate” TCA particles
sercialinho
>does it mean the wine cannot be corked?
Yes. DIAM is an agglomerate cork manufacturer, which cleans the cork in broadly the same way caffeine is removed from decaf coffee so no TCA can remain and pollute the wine.
>wouldn’t all wineries use it if that was the case?
Shockingly enough, no. Which is a damn shame from a QA perspective.
But you’ve probably seen DIAM corks many times before and didn’t even notice — unless you knew to look for the little DIAM logo or perhaps the particular patterns they tend to have.
TychoRedLead
It means what it says on the tin
otarusilvestris
Well it’s a matter of time it gets adopted by more and more producers. I’m my experience, 1 out of 20 wines are corked and it’s a shame. Some incredible wines become wasted because of TCA. And the longer the ageing, the worse it gets. With diam the producers can even choose the level of microoxigenation over time, which is great from a producer’s perspective, depending on the wine. I love to pull a nice, long one-pieced cork but it’s actually a russian roulette
OptimalChallange
After listening to hundreds of hours of I’ll drink to that, I have only positive associations with Diam corks.
ExaminationFancy
DIAM uses supercritical CO2 extraction to remove any contaminants which can ruin your wine – including TCA.
There’s a cool interview with Dominique Tourneix, the Director General of DIAM by Levi Dalton. Look up the podcast, *I’ll Drink to That*.
They are not the prettiest of corks, but you’re basically guaranteed a bottle of wine that is free of cork taint.
wogfood
It means the winemaker gives a shit
SirGallade
Agglomerated corks like the one in your hand are made up of a bunch of tiny cork particles washed and treated to eliminate traces of TCA (corktaint) and then smashed and bound together to form a cork shape. Natural cork is the alternative, and is made by simply punching a cylinder out of a piece of cork from a cork tree. Harder to treat for TCA.
As for why some wineries do not use agglomerated, in my experience it’s mostly aesthetic. Natural cork gives the appearance of quality, looks nicer, is more expensive as it’s made of higher quality cork. Agglomerated cork is more consistent, friendlier to bottling equipment, is cheaper and much less likely to contain TCA, but looks cheaper too.
Source: professional cellar worker, bottling tech.
10 Comments
It’s Diam’s branding
The cork taint is between the cork’s nuts and the cork’s butthole. This cork is made exclusively from other parts of the cork tree.
Diam Bouchage is a French cork manufacturer that uses a process involving CO2 to help “eliminate” TCA particles
>does it mean the wine cannot be corked?
Yes. DIAM is an agglomerate cork manufacturer, which cleans the cork in broadly the same way caffeine is removed from decaf coffee so no TCA can remain and pollute the wine.
>wouldn’t all wineries use it if that was the case?
Shockingly enough, no. Which is a damn shame from a QA perspective.
But you’ve probably seen DIAM corks many times before and didn’t even notice — unless you knew to look for the little DIAM logo or perhaps the particular patterns they tend to have.
It means what it says on the tin
Well it’s a matter of time it gets adopted by more and more producers. I’m my experience, 1 out of 20 wines are corked and it’s a shame. Some incredible wines become wasted because of TCA. And the longer the ageing, the worse it gets.
With diam the producers can even choose the level of microoxigenation over time, which is great from a producer’s perspective, depending on the wine.
I love to pull a nice, long one-pieced cork but it’s actually a russian roulette
After listening to hundreds of hours of I’ll drink to that, I have only positive associations with Diam corks.
DIAM uses supercritical CO2 extraction to remove any contaminants which can ruin your wine – including TCA.
There’s a cool interview with Dominique Tourneix, the Director General of DIAM by Levi Dalton. Look up the podcast, *I’ll Drink to That*.
They are not the prettiest of corks, but you’re basically guaranteed a bottle of wine that is free of cork taint.
It means the winemaker gives a shit
Agglomerated corks like the one in your hand are made up of a bunch of tiny cork particles washed and treated to eliminate traces of TCA (corktaint) and then smashed and bound together to form a cork shape. Natural cork is the alternative, and is made by simply punching a cylinder out of a piece of cork from a cork tree. Harder to treat for TCA.
As for why some wineries do not use agglomerated, in my experience it’s mostly aesthetic. Natural cork gives the appearance of quality, looks nicer, is more expensive as it’s made of higher quality cork. Agglomerated cork is more consistent, friendlier to bottling equipment, is cheaper and much less likely to contain TCA, but looks cheaper too.
Source: professional cellar worker, bottling tech.