The cork was corked but the wine was fine

[W_Leonard]

Disclosure: We import and sell this wine
We have run into this with Juillot and other wines where dampness gets between the cork and capsule creating an off-putting corked smell on the top of the cork but not the rest. There are no perforations on some capsules so the musty, dampness gets stuck. Sometimes we just take the capsules off and the smell goes away!

[Ian_Sutton]

@Todd F r e n c h

When they hand the patron the cork, the patron is supposed to look to see if the cork/vintage match that on the bottle, not sniff it, no?

It’s a good indicator but false positives / false negatives both possible (though not so common IME). Absolutely taste the wine to check, but if the corky smells tainted, then I’d be anticipating taint in the wine and would be thinking about whether the wine tastes a little stripped, even if I’m not getting any mustiness.

The advantage of the staff sniffing the cork, rather than tasting, is that they’re not drinking the wine you just paid for

[John_Glas]

screw caps problem solved in 95% of the wines on the market.

[Brian_Tuite]

@larry schaffer

So here’s a question for Somms for WSET folks - are you still trained to give the cork to patrons?

Cheers.

They should be since the reason they give you the cork is so you can see the winery name and/or vintage date in order to verify everything is correct.

[Oliver_McCrum]

@John Glas

screw caps problem solved in 95% of the wines on the market.

Yes.

[DougS]

@Todd F r e n c h

@John Morris

@Todd F r e n c h

I never sniff a cork - it smells like ‘cork’, not ‘corked’/TCA but it doesn’t smell like wine, and that tiny sample on the end of the cork that came in contact with the wine for years might have tartrate crystals, might be moldy, etc, but the wine can be fine. Smelling the cork is silly, IMHO

I totally agree. But waiters still offer the cork and patrons still sniff. I was just chuckling at the idea that a waiter would prompt a good bottle to be rejected.

When they hand the patron the cork, the patron is supposed to look to see if the cork/vintage match that on the bottle, not sniff it, no?

That’s right. A lot of people will smell the cork, but that is not why it’s being presented. I always look at it with older wines to see what kind of condition it’s in, but otherwise I ignore it. I used to think of checking the cork for authenticity as an archaic practice, but with all of the fraudulent wine on the market, I guess it still makes sense. It does always baffle me, though, how many wine professionals smell corks upon opening bottles and even argue that doing so serves some purpose. It doesn’t.

[Ian_Sutton]

@Brian Tuite

@larry schaffer

So here’s a question for Somms for WSET folks - are you still trained to give the cork to patrons?

Cheers.

They should be since the reason they give you the cork is so you can see the winery name and/or vintage date in order to verify everything is correct.

In that case they should also present the top of the capsule, a magnifying glass and a phone with Maureen and Don as the speed dial options…

[Brian_Tuite]

@Ian Sutton

@Brian Tuite

@larry schaffer

So here’s a question for Somms for WSET folks - are you still trained to give the cork to patrons?

Cheers.

They should be since the reason they give you the cork is so you can see the winery name and/or vintage date in order to verify everything is correct.

In that case they should also present the top of the capsule, a magnifying glass and a phone with Maureen and Don as the speed dial options…

Haha. People don’t bother counterfeiting the wines I can afford to drink.

[lleichtman]

I look for the cork to be the same as the bottle. I also feel the cork. If it is bone dry, the wine has been stored improperly and may make for a dried out wine. I don’t sniff corks as this is a useless endeavor.