Okay, the questions in this new series aren’t really stupid. But the whole wine thing can be so (unnecessarily) intimidating. Good thing for you I have no shame.

This week’s expert is the lovely Dawn Smith, the Wine Director for the Restaurants at Bellevue Towers: Purple Café and Wine Bar, Barrio, and a third top-secret project she’s not allowed to talk about.

“I came to wine through food,” says Smith, whose first-ever instructor (at an International Sommelier Guild class) was Shayn Bjornholm, then also the wine director at Canlis. “I continued my wine education with more advanced classes and about a year-and-a-half later Shayn called and asked me if I would apply for a floor sommelier position at Canlis. Crazy! I got the job.” The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

Here, a stupid question for Dawn Smith:

Why does the sommelier hand me the cork after her or she opens the bottle of wine I ordered, and what am I supposed to do with it?

“The primary reason a sommelier hands you a cork,” says Smith, “is so that you may inspect that the wine has been stored properly." The older the vintage, the more important that it’s been stowed right: "on its side, away from light, vibration, and at a constant temperature of 55-58 degrees.”

A moist cork means your bottle has been sitting pretty, but you might also want to smell it to check for taint. (Stop giggling). “The cork from a ‘corked’ wine will smell of cork taint—often described as damp cardboard or wet basement,” says Smith. But, she says, “this is not really the most reliable way to judge the soundness of a wine. Corks, particularly older corks, can smell a bit funky even though the wine is pristine. Most sommeliers will smell the bottle or actually pour a small taste of the wine to confirm the quality before offering it to the guest. Gratefully, most faults in wine are detectable on the nose so you never have to experience the foul taste.”

You can also inspect the cork to make sure you get what you ordered. “Most corks will have the producer and vintage of the wine branded onto the portion of the cork that is within the sealed bottle.” When the sommelier brings the bottle to the table, he or she should show you “the label and state the vintage, producer, name of wine and area of production,” but inspecting the cork is your final chance to ensure you’ve got the right juice.

So there you have it: when it doubt read the cork, make sure it is moist, and smell it, if you are feeling saucy. Then, drink up.