Corkscrew

Which corkscrew to choose?

There are many different corkscrews to choose from on the market, and all of them are specifically designed and developed to solve the same task. Finding the best corkscrew is about getting the one that suits you the best. Whether you prefer a specific colour, or if a fun and unusual feature makes you prefer a certain corkscrew over another is totally up to you. What is important is that you are happy using your favourite corkscrew.

What makes a good corkscrew?

Are you searching for a good corkscrew but unsure what to look for? Ergonomics is always a wise thing to take into consideration, and a good corkscrew must therefore be with a comfortable grip. There are several details and design solutions that you can choose between. For example, you can get corkscrews such as:

• A winged corkscrew
• An electric corkscrew
• A wall-mounted corkscrew
• A waiter’s friend

These different variants will help you open a bottle of wine, but some have more features than others. A winged corkscrew is a classic that is easy to use, and a waiter’s friend has everything you need to remove foil and cork without bending it.

Benefits of a waiter’s friend

The waiter’s friend is a favourite among many sommeliers. That is why it is also called a sommelier knife, and others call it a wine key. The tool is reliable and easy to work with, and you have everything you need to open a wine bottle in one product.

If the corkscrew has a folding knife, it is a good thing if the blade is curved. Such a curved blade will cut a fine cut along the bottle's capsule.

Choose the classic winged corkscrew

The most widely used corkscrew-type is the winged corkscrew which most of us are familiar with. With the two very characteristic wings that rise into the air like the arms, the appearance is easily recognised.

The user’s manual is very simple with this corkscrew. The screw goes through the cork, the arms are pushed back down along the frame, and your wine is open. However, one of the disadvantages of this corkscrew is that they are often equipped with a screw instead of a spiral.

A foil cutter works well with this type of corkscrew, as it allows you to easily open the foil attached to the neck of the wine bottle. Find them among our wide range of different quality wine openers.

Why choose an electric corkscrew?

To the great benefit of people with reduced strength in their hands, the electric corkscrew is an ingenious thing. They come in various designs, but the concept is the same. Inside a cylinder is a small motor that drives the spiral down through the cork which is pulled up through the spiral.

The electric corkscrew may resemble a pepper grinder at first sight, but it is a sought-after tool that makes it much easier to open a bottle of wine for people with arthritis, for example.

The T-shaped corkscrew is a great basic

The very basic corkscrew, also called the t-shaped corkscrew, is the one it all began with. If you are a fan of simplicity and back-to-basics, this is the corkscrew for you. The concept is very simple with a screw or a spiral with a handle across, making the whole device look like a big T.

The spiral is screwed down into the cork, and a good amount of raw strength is required for pulling corks this one. But it is simple, basic, and, not least, handy. This type of corkscrew is also seen in conjunction with pocket knives such as the Victorinox Swiss knives or the classic knives from French Laguiole.

Use a self-pulling corkscrew

The conceptual design behind the so-called screwpull corkscrew was created in 1979 by American oil drilling engineer Herbert Allen. The self-pulling corkscrew is quite simple, with a very long spiral and a base with a two-arm handle to hold the top of the bottle.

The longer you spin the spiral through the cork, the more the plunger is automatically lifted out of the bottle while the spiral pierces the cork.

The fact that the cork is fully penetrated is the weakness of this type of corkscrew, as you risk that the cork crumbles. It also takes a while to liberate the cork from the spiral after use.

Try the lever corkscrew

The lever corkscrew is also called a rabbit corkscrew or a Houdini corkscrew. This variant has a pair of arms that hold the bottleneck while a lever or handle pushes the spiral down through the cork.

Highly popular variants of the lever corkscrew are the large wall- or table-mounted versions, where you get a very powerful pull on the cork. They are especially good at opening many bottles in a short period of time, and therefore well-liked in catering businesses, for example.

Pick the Ah-So corkscrew for old wines

The twin-blade corkscrew goes under many names. Most commonly it is called Ah-So, but it might be referred to as butler’s friend as well. This variant is designed slightly differently than a classic corkscrew. It has two blades that slide down between the bottleneck and the cork. This makes it particularly suitable for handling old and fragile corks as it does not penetrate the cork itself. Wine bottles with old cork plugs are quite fragile, so in this case, the two-pronged corkscrew comes in handy.

Use a champagne sabre, and start the party with a bang

Champagne bottles and similar sparkling wines hold a large pressure in order to keep in the exquisite bubbles, and a clever, original, and highly festive way to open such a bottle is by using a sabre. The effect is spectacular, and we have a large selection of champagne sabres at Wineandbarrels.

A champagne sabre is great for special occasions, such as graduation, anniversaries, birthdays, weddings or the like. It is also a good gift idea for those looking for a little extra something.

Port tongs are brilliant for old bottles

Another festive and spectacular way to open wine is using the Port tongs. Unlike the champagne sabre, there is a professionally good reason for using this tool. Wines with several decades and sometimes a century behind them often have very fragile corks that can crumble easily. With a Port tong warmed up to red-hot degrees in a bonfire or over a gas flame, a wet cloth can cut the bottleneck below the cork and thus access the wine without touching the cork.