The ability of wine lactic acid bacteria to produce tyramine and phenylethylamine was investigated by biochemical and genetic methods. An easy and accurate plate medium was developed to detect tyramine-producer strains, and a specific PCR assay that detects the presence of tdc gene was employed. All strains possessing the tdc gene were shown to produce tyramine and phenylethylamine. Wines containing high quantities of tyramine and phenylethylamine were found to contain Lactobacillus brevis or Lactobacillus hilgardii. The main tyramine producer was L. brevis. The ability to produce tyramine was absent or infrequent in the rest of the analysed wine species.