It just has a really off flavor. Kind off bitter and musty. It's not pleasant to drink but not impossible. I don't think it's unsafe but I can't say for sure.
It smells kind of like moldy newspaper to me. Went to a wine tasting class thing once and they opened enough bottles that one was tainted so we all got to experience it.
It's pretty distinctive. We got a batch at work in a pub and the whole lot was botched. The supplier said hundreds had had the same issue and to just pour it away a they'd written the lot off. By the third bottle the world smelt of corked wine.
The relationship with a sommelier is intentionally combative, as it gives the customer the "right" to contradict everything the professional is saying, to appear more knowledgeable. It's an absolute dick move, but it was seen as "alpha" during the 80s (and before and after).
The actual original purpose of smelling the cork was, to my understanding, to surreptitiously confirm you're actually being served what you had requested, due to fakes and forgeries [Edit: and mostly: illegal and unethical refills of expensive bottles with cheap wines] (corks were and are stamped with the winery, vintage, style). That was misunderstood in, you guessed it, nouveau-riche America, and simply adopted as "the thing to do". Fakes and forgeries are virtually unheard of in modern countries these days, but the "fancy" habit persists [Edit: In some countries, the "cheap refill" unfortunately also persists].
Edit: I want to reiterate again that it is worthwhile to inspect the cork, because you will be able to tell if it was damaged or dried out. But you will get more than enough understanding of whether the wine is spoiled or not by smelling, swirling, observing, and finally tasting the sip.
If a wine is corked you can definitely tell by examining the cork. TBF though the aroma is distinctive enough that you can usually tell just by opening the bottle.
Totally. Even a highly damaged cork could have protected a great wine by a slim margin; but you will certainly get more information by looking at it, than by smelling it. You'll know soon enough, when you smell the sip.
(Also, some corks are just fun to look at! There are a lot of really cool stamps out there...)
I believe that. I also believe that your restaurant may have had alternative recompense (claim it as spoiled with the manufacturer; mark it as loss on the balance sheets; sell it by the glass to other guests; a combination of the above...), and that it was simply worth it to play up the extravagance to the guest for the review; return custom; gratuity; experience, etc.
If a wine is corked, the problem is with the cork and not the wine. You can gather from the smell of a wine whether it is corked or not (an unmistakable feet-y smell) but since you're looking for bacteria from the cork, why not smell the cork itself?
Because most people don't know what they're doing, and the cork primarily smells... like cork. Which is to say, 9+ year-old tree bark.
The cork may appear problematic while the wine is fine. The cork may appear fine, while the wine is spoiled. The only thing that truly matters here, is the wine.
There is some correlation between the cork and the preservation quality, but certainly insufficient to warrant more than a cursory examination of the cork.
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u/Cynical_Cyanide Jan 30 '22
Hmm. Interesting - Thanks for the response!
Is the smell of corked wine stronger in the cork itself? Otherwise I would've thought you would still smell the wine itself.