Cork: To Sniff or Not to Sniff

Corks: To Sniff or Not to Sniff

That is the question…

So, you go to a restaurant, order a bottle of your choice from the menu and the server brings you the bottle. They pour the tiniest bit into your glass and hand you the cork.

Now what? Well, this is all extremely traditional and has been argued if this practice is even necessary anymore.

What do I do? If the server pours you a little in your glass, stops, looks at you and waits, you are to in practice sniff and taste to make sure the wine is without any wine faults/flaws. The server is NOT looking for a “yes I like it” or “no I don’t like it.”

This is worth repeating so listen. The server and this practice is not concerned for your personal opinion, it is concerned for the integrity of the wine itself.

The cork is handed to you so you are able to verify the producer’s mark on the cork to ensure that the wine has not been altered, switched, etc. In my professional opinion, this is an objectively outdated practice. What you really want to look for is how the cork has held up over time. Are there red running wine lines to the top of the cork? Is it super dry, brittle and crumbling in your fingers? Or is it perfect with little to zero bleeding where the wine was in contact with the liquid? That is all you are truly doing. It will give you a better indication of how the wine was stored.

If you know what flaws I am talking about or have been trained on the subject matter you know what to look for. For those who are not, the most basic of what you are looking for are aromas of say, a wet dog or a damp, dirty basement. This is caused by a type of fungus from the winery to what is known as “cork-taint.” The most common cause is from the cork itself, but also from barrels, bottling processes, etc.

I see people smelling the cork, do I do that?

Well, you can if you want. This is a very controversial debate within wine-nerd circles whether or not you should. Personally speaking, no, don’t smell it. I find this to be an amateur practice. Why? Because I am in the camp of smelling a cork will not add any additional information to the integrity of the wine. It is like splashing a tree with a bucket of wine, then smelling the tree trying to detect wine flaws. Or, you can simply, smell the wine itself.

I don’t care about the cork, I care about the wine. The wine will tell you everything you need to know. I have had many, many bottles where the cork was practically rotted, and the wine was perfect. Others where the wine without a doubt had cork-taint, but the cork was in pristine condition. The relation of cork-taint to the wine does not automatically equal a cork issue, it could literally be anything originating from who knows where.

A cork is a very complex part of a bottle. Is it a real cork, plastic, synthetic? Yes, I have seen people smell 100% plastic corks, so please don’t do that. Is the cork raw, semi-bleached, bleached? Boiled or unboiled prior to bottling? Long or short? How was the cork marked, with ink, pressure engraved, heat brand? I have even seen information regarding terroir for corks, such as if it is from Spain, Portugal, Morocco?

Please see our article on Cork vs. Synthetic for more information!!

So, bottom line, no, don’t smell the cork. However, if you simply want to or are in the camp that believes you can indeed find more information regarding cork-taint, then please, by all means go ahead! This debate will not be ending any time soon!

If you agree, or disagree with me. Please leave a comment, I would love to hear what you think!