And does the average wine consumer notice or care?
I found this article to be disappointing and condescending. Why? It's about the premise that "average" wine consumers don't notice or care. Sorry, but this is ridiculous!
Let's start at the beginning. The article does have some very good technical information about cork taint, commonly referred to as a wine that is "corked". But the conclusion that "average" wine consumers don't care about this flaw because they usually drink the wine anyway is way off the mark. True that most wine drinkers don't know how to recognize a corked wine - instead, they likely drink the wine (or don't) and decide not to buy that wine again because it sucks! Obviously, this isn't true - it is a flaw totally unrelated to the quality of the wine itself. It's unfair to the winery and to the consumer.
Anyone with an interest in selling wine should make an effort to educate consumers about what "corked" wine is and isn't. I worked at a winery tasting room for a couple of years and whenever we happened to open a bottle behind the bar that was corked, I always used it as an opportunity to teach Corked 101 to our guests. And, they were always very appreciative. Hopefully, they left the winery that day having enjoyed our wine and hospitality and also learned something that will enable them to more fairly and accurately evaluate wines.
Do consumers care if wine is corked?! Yeah, pretty sure they care if the bottle they bought is ruined.