Corkiness and soft corks

[Randy Caparoso]

That cardboardy "corked" tasted occurs when the cork is tainted with bacteria robbing the wine of its aroma and flavor. The condition of the cork you're talking about indicates some severe temperature and/or pressure fluctuations in the storage and movement of the bottle. Quite often, wines that suffer through this survive quite handily. If the wine tasted fresh and fruity to you, there's your proof. If it just tasted a little tired and "burned out," then maybe the fluctuations hurt it. But if it tasted like dirty socks... well, then you've got yourself a contaminated cork.