Elderdog, you asked about the way one inspects a wine cork after its removal. There's no need to sniff at it. One looks to see if the cork is wet all around. This indicates that the cork's seal has not been broken. A dry cork likely means a spoiled wine.

Does using a screw-top wine bottle say something about me?

Hahah. Haven't sniffed, nor seen, a cork, for a long time....:)

Not at all, Mel. A lot of perfectly good wines use a screw cap nowadays.

To add to what Don said, beware of a crumbling cork.

fyi.... many wines w\screw tops are very good. Bottling\topping wine bottles have improved to where using the screw top is as good (..or better??) than using a cork..and is more cost effective.


Now boxed wine......haven't found a good one yet

Any wine is good for me. Right out of the box.

Hey, that's my line!

Well, I said "carton of wine" last October--but it's pretty much the same thing!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2019 08:43PM by Lot's Wife.

Ha! Box even easier to open than screw bottle! I’m in!!!

And yeah, it had a wide, white screw top.

The wine snobs hate me.

I love the scene in Grumpier Old Men where the "Ox" shows up at his intended's Italian Restaurant with a box of wine! It really magnifies how uncouth he is, yet she ultimately falls for him anyway. It's an endearing story.

If you are talking about what to look for while inspecting a wine cork, all I can add to Don Bagley's sage advice is that cork mold can spoil a wine and this happens in roughly 5% of all wine packaged with natural cork.

The biggest giveaway that the wine has been "corked" is an off-putting smell you can get by sniffing the cork. If the cork smells like wet socks or an old wet newspaper than the wine is corked and should be sent back. You can taste the wine as cork taint is harmless. The taste will be off too. Like drinking wine that has cat piss. Not pleasant at all.

So, I now know to check to see if the cork is wet all around as well as smelling the cork. Thanks Don!

I did not know this. Thanks.

Finally, we can go to that fancy new restaurant where they bring actual bottles to the table instead of the rolling wine cart, with a choice of boxed wines. They call the guy pushing the wine cart a Sommelier, but when I asked about his credentials, he ignored me.

Thanks!