A rapid, sensitive, reproducible, and inexpensive method of high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) for the analysis of ochratoxin A (OTA) in wine was developed. It is characterized by direct injection of the wine into the HPLC apparatus, with no need of extraction or cleanup. The method uses acetonitrile, water, and acetic acid (49:49:2, vol/vol/vol, respectively) as the isocratic mobile phase and a 5-microm monolithic C18 column (100 by 3 mm inside diameter). The relative standard deviation obtained in the OTA determination varied between 0.22 and 1.76%, with a mean value of 0.89%, in samples with concentrations between 0.10 and 100 ng/ml. The recovery of OTA ranged from 102% in samples spiked with 1 ng/ml OTA to 120% in samples with 0.10 ng/ml OTA. The method compared favorably with a published method based on an immunoaffinity column cleanup and a chromatographic assay with a C18 conventional HPLC column.