TCA (tri-chloro-anisole) is produced by a fungus on the cork bast and the primary cause of the cork taste in wines using cork stopers. The levels of TCA in cork are quite low on a level of ppt (10-12), but we can still taste those levels. In 1996 the removal of TCA with CO2 was first explored by M. Nunes Da Ponte. His research showed that supercritical CO2 can remove the TCA and give wine a superior sensorial quality compared to other techniques. In 2019 FeyeCon got approached by Amorim Cork to design a competing system. We were able to devise a system with 50% lower capital expenses and 70% lower operational expenses. In cooperation with Amorim we were able to overcome the always challenging scale-up problems, which are usually not related to the process itself, but the handling of the products. We are proud to say that we now have successful system in place.
