Go Ahead & Smell the Cork

Wine can be complicated. We get that. So... Smell the cork.

Sometimes wine etiquette is way more confusing than it needs to be. Here’s a good example. Some friends of mine were visiting Napa recently and went to a nice dinner. They ordered a rather expensive bottle of wine. The sommelier opened it and presented the cork to one of the guys — who then sniffed it. The somm cringed, gave a big eye roll, and proceeded to deliver a full-blown lecture on the folly of cork sniffing.

Turns out, cork sniffing is a surprisingly contentious topic. On one side, you have the “Don’t smell the cork” crowd. On the other side, there's the even more adamant, “Seriously, don’t sniff the cork” faction. On the other, you have team “Please do smell the cork!” Even among sommeliers, there’s no clear answer. So what’s a wine drinker to do when a cork is ceremoniously presented?

The Case For Sniffing

There’s really only one logical reason to sniff a cork — to detect a trace of TCA taint. Most people, however, don’t know what that smells like. Hint: think funky damp basement or wet cardboard. Even a trained nose would want to taste the wine to confirm the suspicion.

If your wine smells like wet cardboard, musty gym socks, or a dank basement, chances are it’s corked. Cork taint is caused by a chemical called TCA, or 2,4,6-trichloroanisole. Numbers are murky, but cork suppliers estimate about 1-2% of corks might be affected.

The Case Against Sniffing

Unlike other wine rituals like decanting, swirling, and slurping, sniffing the cork doesn’t offer much practical value. It’s pretty pointless, honestly. But it’s also harmless. Judging someone for giving a cork a sniff seems unnecessary. Just let them do their thing, pour the wine, and move on.

What have we learned? It doesn’t really matter what you do with the cork. Sniff it, don’t sniff it, pocket it, toss it in the trash, or save it for a craft project. The main goal is enjoying the wine. Don’t overthink it. There really isn’t a right or wrong move here.