Originally Posted by
thegeneral
It's possible, but not likely. Problems with wine usually happen when there is a problem with the cork and air or other nastiness gets in. Your bubbly is carbonated and the bottle is under pressure. If there were a problem with the cork not sealing the bottle, the pressurized wine would flow out or the wine would be flat. Either would be pretty apparent.
My understanding of cork taint is that it has nothing to do with something like air or other contaminants getting "in" to the wine but rather is a problem with contaminated cork itself. Apparently a certain percentage of cork contains a natural contaminant that ruins wine. In addition to being much cheaper than cork, screw tops and plastic stoppers ensure no possibility of cork taint, thus the increasing prevalence of such closures here in CA and up in OR.
Also, perhaps I read this wrong but it looks like you are summarily dismissing Gaucho's point. He is correct - tainted cork is but one of many reasons a particular bottle of bubbly might be off.