The cork scenario

Here's a little scenario for you guys... So you take your date to a restaurant choose a wine and the sommelier opens the bottle and hands you the cork. What do you do with it? Most of you sniff it right? Well actually when you are handed a cork, it is really to check the integrity of the wine and that no oxygen has gotten into the wine. Just inspect the cork and you will look like a pro. Try it next time! If the cork is really dry and cracked, it was stored vertically. If pieces are missing, maybe oxygen was getting into the wine. This is when a wine is considered to be "corked". By the way, all wine corks generally smell the same...