WINE FAULTS TASTER COURSE
The TCA Experience
This focused tasting workshop trains you to perceive TCA (cork taint) at very low levels of contamination — precisely where most palates, and most professionals, find it difficult to detect.
In minuscule quantities, TCA starts affecting the flavours and aromas of wine well before the strong, wet cardboard aromas are present.
ABOUT THIS COURSE
What Can You Expect?
Working wine professionals and regular wine drinkers know that TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) is one of the most common, talked-about and economically costly wine faults. A fault that causes heated debates in group tastings or creates immense doubts about the quality of a wine if you are on your own at home or in a restaurant.
At high concentrations it announces itself very clear, with damp cardboard and musty aromas. But the real doubt lies in the levels nobody notices — sub-threshold concentrations that silently strip a wine of its aromas, vitality, fruit expression and pleasure without triggering obvious alarm. Most people will drink and pay for these wines, even if their instincts are saying they could be something wrong.
This course is led by Juan Lo Bello (Wine Faults Academy) and Lilla Fülöp (Wine Education Switzerland). Learn about our partner at: www.wineeducation.ch
Why Are Low Levels the Real Problem?
Invisible, Yet Damaging
Sub-threshold TCA does not produce the classic wet cardboard smell. Instead it causes muted fruit, a flat mid-palate and an inexplicably lifeless finish — leaving both drinker and server confused without a clear cause.
Value Destruction
A bottle tainted at low levels will not deliver the experience or the quality the winemaker intended, nor the value-for-money the guest expects. The wine should be replaced (and later return to the supplier) — but only if someone at the table can confidently say why.
Detection Requires Empirical Experience
Reading about TCA is not enough. The only reliable way to build a personal detection threshold is to smell and taste it, repeatedly, at measured concentrations, in real wines, always with a control sample next to you.
Context Matters
The same concentration of TCA affects sparkling, light whites and powerful reds in fundamentally different ways. Recognising the fault in different styles changes your perception and increases your confidence.
COURSE CONTENT
What’s Included?
All the facts and information required to understand the origin and different types of Haloanisoles contaminations that can affect wines.
A hands-on tasting session built around two contrasting wine styles and three glasses dosed with precisely calibrated, very low levels of TCA
Across three progressively dosed glasses you will:
Identify your personal detection threshold — the concentration at which you begin to perceive TCA.
Observe how sub-threshold TCA suppresses aromas and shortens the finish before musty notes arrive.
Compare the fault's expression in a light, aromatic white versus a structured, tannic red.
Leave with a calibrated, empirical reference for life — one you can apply immediately at a restaurant table or behind a service counter.
Course Details
Format
Focused tasting session — hands-on, sensory-first.
Wines
One light white wine
One bold red wine
Glasses
3 glasses per style, each dosed at a very low, precisely calibrated TCA level.
Outcome
Personal detection threshold identified; empirical reference built.
Dates & Locations
Friday, October 16th in Zurich
Friday, 27th November in Basel
Course Fees
146 CHF per person.
Who Benefits?
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Stop doubting your instincts in restaurants. Know when a wine is truly faulty — and feel confident enough to ask for a replacement.
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Eliminate moments of hesitation during service. Develop absolute clarity so you can act decisively when a guest raises a concern.
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Protect your portfolio. One tainted batch can damage a supplier relationship; a calibrated palate is your first line of defence.