When a waiter gives you the cork from the wine bottle before he pours your wine, what you supposed to do ?????

Question

When a waiter gives you the cork from the wine bottle before he pours your wine, what you supposed to do ?????

Answer 1

A lot of these answers are wrong. Smelling the cork does nothing for you because a "corked" (bad) wine will smell like cork!? So smelling it does nothing. The person who said that it is to see that the bottom is stained and not seeping up the side is correct. Also checking for mold is good but ONLY on the bottom of the cork the side that touches the wine because often (especially with German Rieslings) wine splashes during the bottling and gets trapped between the cork and foil on top of the bottle and this is fine just wipe it off. Wine should be stored on it's side and when you are given the cork you are supposed to feel it for dampness. I agree that originally it was to check for the winery information so that unscrupulous inn keepers who do the switcheroo on you can't do so. But my research has never found anything that implied that even back then anyone would smell the cork. Because again there is no value to it. Cork is more odored than the subtleness of the smell of wine. Many wines that are corked go unnoticed because the smell is so mild it is often missed by the average wine consumer.

So just touch the end to ensure the cork is damp and then place it on the table. When you taste the wine to accept or decline it you are smelling for cork, wet laundry, vinegar, cardboard, or no smell at all which is also bad. When tasting do the same. Do you taste these flavors or taste nothing at all just a flat "flabbiness" these are all bad wine indicators. It doesn't happen often but aprox 3-7 percent of wine (at least) is corked. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

You`re supposed to sniff the cork to makesure the wine hasn`t gone off

Answer 3

It is far easier to tell if a wine is off by smelling the cork than tasting it - you will notice any bad odour a lot quicker this way.  By all means, taste it as well if you wish, but if the cork smells ok then the wine will be ok.

Answer 4

We always say 'stick a cork in yer ear for Yorkshire'

Answer 5

Handing you the cork is basically a tradition.  Long ago, like in the days of Robin Hood, taverns and inns made there own wine. Corks were marked by their quality.  Many inn keepers would reuse corks from the good wine to recork the bad.  It then became the norm to show the cork to the customer after opening and the customer would look at the cork and sometimes sniff for vinegar before tasting.  Today, when the cork is given to the person who is going to taste the wine, that person should just glance at the cork and set it aside.

Sniffing the cork does't mean you're lacking any know how, many people still do, it's just not common practice today.

Answer 6

Tell him to stop poncing around and get on and pour the slop.

Answer 7

Smell it to see if it has turned (smells vinegary) Look at it to make sure there is no mold and the cork is in good condition. Also, the more lines on a cork the better the cork, i.e. the better the wine.

Answer 8

Sniff it for any imparted bouquet.

Answer 9

smell the cork to smell if the wine is corky or bad. Then taste the wine and nod to the waiter if the wine is good. If not tell him. Keep the cork at the table so you can take home the bottle if you don't finish it.

Answer 10

Well he is asking you to stop telling s**t joke and plug the hole

Answer 11

You hold the cork between forefinger and thumb of your left hand while you taste the wine. If the wine is good, you put down the cork next to your wine glass. If it is 'corked' you throw the cork at the waiter.

Answer 12

I thought it was etiquette. You just left the corks on your table so there was no mistakes as to how many bottles you had consumed. Probably completely out of my tree on this one. But I`m sure I heard that somewhere

Answer 13

Put it in your mouth, suck it gently, then remove it whilst smiling coquettishly.

Answer 14

You are not supposed to smell the cork as it will merely smell like cork and tell you nothing about the wine.

You are supposed to look at the cork. Check to see that it is not dry and crumbling which could have allowed air into the wine.  The cork should look stained with wine at the bottom but not all the way to the top which would indicate that wine seeped around the cork, again not a good airtight seal.

Answer 15

Hunka Munka is right.  Just check the cork for the name of the wine or winery.  The waitperson will pour you a taste for you to check the quality of the wine.

Answer 16

If you order exotic wines the waiter normally give you the cork of the wine bottle

This is because many people collect wine bottle corks

its a kind of hobby you know

so what you can do with it don't ask me  :D(pocket it)

Answer 17

throw it back at him and say "away, rapscallion!!"

The cork thing is to show you that that cork just came out of the bottle and you're not getting the house wine when you paid for good stuff.  

Back in the day, servers used to sell expensive wine (they show you the bottle) take the bottle in the back and put it away and serve cheaper wine.  The cork when freshly extracted is wet.  all you have to do is look at it.  it's just to prove that the wine you ordered is the wine you're getting.

Answer 18

Sniff it for the bouquet of the wine

Answer 19

Never sniff it, you can not tell anything about the quality of the wine by sniffing the cork.  you are supposed to read what it says on it to check it is the same as the label and that it therefore has not been opened before and tampered with.