# Why Do Wine Connoisseurs Always Smell the Cork?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wine-connoisseurs-always-smell-the-cork/118151>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 10, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wine-connoisseurs-always-smell-the-cork/118151 "2002-07-10T01:38:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wine-connoisseurs-always-smell-the-cork/118151/1 "2002-07-10T01:38:20Z")

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Why do wine connoisseurs always smell the cork after the bottle is opened? I always assumed that it was to make sure the wine didn’t turn to vinegar, but I honestly don’t know. Anyone know?

😃

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**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wine-connoisseurs-always-smell-the-cork/118151/2 "2002-07-10T01:51:01Z")

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To see if it is moldy and to ensure that it is moist. Interestingly enough this seems to be an American custom for the customer to examine the cork. Or am I the only person who has noticed this?

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**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wine-connoisseurs-always-smell-the-cork/118151/3 "2002-07-10T01:52:48Z")

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They don’t. It’s a fabrication. Real wine connoisseurs do two things with the cork: feel it, and read it.

Feeling it is a function of checking to make sure that it’s wet. A wet cork means that the bottle was stored properly, on its side. A dry cork means it wasn’t, and bad things could have happened to your wine. A crumbly-dry cork means there’s probably fungus or something in the cork, and the wine is almost certainly bad. Sniffing the cork is a less efficient way to test for this than just feeling the thing.

Reading it is a throwback to the days when wine fraud was more common. Used to be, you’d make sure the name on the cork matched the name on the label.

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**Author:** ![Kipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kipper)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wine-connoisseurs-always-smell-the-cork/118151/4 "2002-07-10T03:31:15Z")

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When I used to work in a wine shop in London my boss would go over to France on wine buying trips. One of the very important things he always did was to note down the numbers on all the corks to make sure what he tasted in France was what we got delivered in the shop.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wine-connoisseurs-always-smell-the-cork/118151/5 "2002-07-10T04:10:01Z")

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Max is correct - smelling the cork tells you nothing, and only makes you look silly.

Ref: “Windows on the World Complete Wine Course”, Kevin Zraly, Sterling Pub. Co, NY, NY, 2000