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One of the most intimidating aspects of wine drinking is the mystique about tasting wines.  There is a barrier of knowledge that scares off most people.  The movie Sideways explained a bit of the ritual, but obscured the information by making the character seem pretentious  while he was explaining it.  You might see a knowlegeable person tasting the wine, but what are they really doing?  And more importantly, why?

The Cork
When you are presented the cork after opening a bottle of wine, you are checking to make sure the wine is not "corked".  A corked wine contains trichloroanisole (2,4,6-trichloroanisole - TCA) created by a naturally-occurring airborne fungi, and will smell of moldy newspaper.  It can sometimes come from other sources such as a barrel, but most likely will come from the cork itself.  Examine the cork to make sure it is clear of mold.  It should be stained a bit (if from a red wine), spongy (not dry and crumbly), and have no off-odors.  A dry cork will not necesarrily be a sign of a bad wine, but it does mean that the wine was not stored properly. 

A synthetic cork will have none of the above problems, but it will also have no smell.  If you smell the synthetic cork, you will not gain any useful information.  A synthetic cork is not the sign of an inferior wine; many quality wineries are using synthetic corks.  A synthetic cork is more likely the sign of a winery that is tired of taking back corked wine.  Some people consider a synthetic cork to be less "romantic", but nothing will kill the mood quicker than a corked wine.  Some wineries are starting to use fun colored synthetic corks.