We’ve all been there. You have invited friends over to your
house for a nice dinner party, the food is simmering in the kitchen
and you offer your guests some wine. When you begin to open a
bottle you’ve been saving for the occasion, trouble arises when the
cork decides not to cooperate. One wrong tug, and bam
– the cork breaks in two and you’re left standing with a face as
red as the wine you were hoping to serve.
We’ve all been there. You have invited friends over to your house for a nice dinner party, the food is simmering in the kitchen and you offer your guests some wine. When you begin to open a bottle you’ve been saving for the occasion, trouble arises when the cork decides not to cooperate. One wrong tug, and bam – the cork breaks in two and you’re left standing with a face as red as the wine you were hoping to serve. You know what they say: “It happens.”
There are many cork removers on the market today. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of design and practicality, but they all serve the same purpose – allowing you to get to the good stuff inside the bottle.
My personal favorite is the “waiter’s friend,” aptly named because wait staff in restaurants use this device almost exclusively. It comes with a small retractable knife for cutting the foil capsule found on the bottle’s opening, a fulcrum, a handle and a wire screw that is often referred to as the “worm.”
After removing the top of the foil capsule with the knife, make sure the worm is centered in the cork. With a soft, clockwise motion, set the worm into the cork. By twisting slowly, the wire screw will right itself. About five or six twists will anchor the worm firmly.
Lift the handle and place the fulcrum’s notch on the edge of the bottle opening. Hold the fulcrum against the bottle with an index finger, and firmly lift the handle with your other hand to extract the cork about three-fourths of the way. You can twist the worm one more turn and use the fulcrum to extract the cork completely. This device is compact, portable and inexpensive.
A good brand for less than $10 is the Crescendo waiter’s friend. It has an ergonomically correct rubber handle for firm gripping and a serrated blade, and the device is available in a few different colors. It also has a sturdy bottle cap opener. (Hey, we can’t always drink wine. As a good bachelor, I carry one of these in my truck for any situation that calls for it!)
The “ah-so” style wine opener is a device that has a handle and two flexible blade-like prongs, one slightly longer than the other. This model works well with dry or fragile corks. It can rescue the mishap of a broken cork, too! Simply insert the prongs into the bottle opening between the cork and glass until the prongs are all the way down. Twist and slowly lift the handle to slide the cork out. This takes practice and a little muscle. The blades also tend to break or bend if stressed too hard. The ah-so can be found in almost any store for less than $10.
In recent years, a model that has gained in popularity has been the lever-style. Known also as the “rabbit” for its animal shape, the lever-style is perfect when you need to open many bottles at a time. Grasp the bottle neck firmly with the handles, and with one quick pull on the lever, the worm is inserted perfectly in the center. Retract the lever and the cork comes out cleanly every time. Price varies depending on the brand and materials used. Some sets, with extra wire worms and foil cutters, are less than $50. This model is great for the home, but it’s not very portable or light.
For the daring, there are the wine openers that have propellant cartridges. The small device is situated on top of the bottle. With the push of a button, a sharp needle is inserted into the cork, and with a noisy pop, the cork comes out in less than a second.
While impressive if done right, there are too many downsides to this type of wine opener. It comes with warnings about bottles possibly rupturing, contents under pressure, keeping it away from children, etc. You also have to keep replacing the propellant cartridges, which can get expensive in the long run.
The one style that I tend to knock is the infamous wing-style wine opener. The base of the opener is placed on top of the bottle, and with a twisting motion of the key on top, the auger is inserted into the cork, raising the wings on each side. Once a depth has been reached that is satisfactory, the wings are pulled down to extract the cork. These models do not cost much, but the construction is usually cheap. The device can be bulky and often has a thick auger that gouges and destroys the cork.
Finally, if you do botch the corking, don’t worry. Jam the cork inside with a screwdriver, and get on with the festivities. Relax – you are with friends. They may tease you, but they care more about the company than anything else.
Cheers!
