A tasting term used to describe wines contaminated by trichloroanisole (a corked wine is not one with bits of cork floating in it). This chemical compound is the product of mold infection in the cork. Said to affect 5% of bottles (some say more, some less), it is one of the main reasons behind the drive towards the increasing use of screwcaps and synthetic closures. It may result in a wine that simply lacks fruit and can be difficult to spot. Alternately, it may be obvious with cardboardy, musty, mushroomy, dank aromas and flavours, rendering the wine completely undrinkable.