What causes this specific corked taste, which often can be perceived by the nose? The first factor is the quality of the cork and its treatment process. The corked flavor can be caused by microscopic molds that are more common in lower quality cork with a coarse surface. It can be assumed that a top quality stopper—long, highly elastic, and cut from a fine batch of cork, will have less of a chance of being defective than a lower quality cork. However, no wine is really safe, whether bottled in France or abroad.