Corked wine aromas stop us smelling

Researchers at Osaka University believe that the chemical TCA or cork taint doesn't actually produce a musty smell but it suppresses our sense of smell. The distinctive musty smell that gets into a cork, leaves wine smelling like a damp cloth and is a wine producer's nightmare. But findings suggest that rather than there being a reduction in the original flavour of the wine, the TCA chemical merely suppresses the flavours.

The researchers said that dimming the noses ability to pick out aromas in the air may lead to imaginary musty smells which they call pseudo-olfactory sensations.

The team at Osaka University was investigating how TCA functions by analysing how the smell-centres of newts and people responded to the chemical. They want to use the findings to develop ways of hiding bad smells!