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How to open a wine bottle with any kind of corkscrew
How to open a wine bottle with any kind of corkscrew
Steven JohnJan 25, 2019, 23:30 IST
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Many people think opening a bottle of wine is a difficult process, but with the right tools, it is quick and easy.
We break down how to open a wine bottle and offer up recommendations for great corkscrews that get the job done.
Barvivo makes our favorite waiter's corkscrew, HiCoup makes a great affordable wing corkscrew, and Oster has the best electric wine opener for just $16.
Once you have opened a few bottles of wine, you'll realize the process is no big deal. Before that, you may well find the prospect so daunting that you stick to wine served in boxes or cans.
Don't worry, it's not just you: Lots of people think opening wine bottles is difficult and will pass the job onto someone more confident in their cork-pulling abilities whenever possible. Today, you will become that someone.
There are lots of ways to open a bottle of wine, many of which are decidedly unusual. You can tuck the bottle into a shoe and bang it against a wall. You can use a screw and a pair of pliers. You can slide a knotted shoelace down past the cork and then pop it out by force.
We'll get into the best wine opening tool options soon, but before we get to that, a quick reminder for those who truly are new to the wine bottle opening game: Make sure you cut away the foil or wax covering the cork before you try to pop the thing out. This is all the more true if you're using an electric corkscrew. The poor thing will have no idea what it's doing wrong. Consider investing in a foil cutter if you plan to start opening lots of wine bottles. You can also check out our guide to the best wine openers here.
Here's how to open a bottle of wine with every kind of corkscrew.
How to open a wine bottle with a waiter's corkscrew
A waiter's corkscrew is the little pocketknife-style device with a folding corkscrew, fulcrum and boot lever (the metal piece you rest on the lip of the bottleneck), and a foil cutter.
You can get an excellent waiter's corkscrew for less than $15, and you can find perfectly adequate options for well under $10, too, but our favorite is the $13 Barvino Professional Corkscrew.
Once you have the foil off the top of the bottleneck, here's how to use one — you've got this, be brave!
1. Twist the corkscrew clockwise down into the cork until the last coil is covered.
2. Rest the middle step of the fulcrum on the lip of the bottleneck and firmly pull away from the bottle with the handle, lifting the cork halfway out of the bottle.
3. Place the lowest step of the fulcrum (the boot lever) on the lip and draw the cork up entirely — if it doesn't pop completely free, twist the corkscrew out and just pull it out.
Wing corkscrews require less exertion of strength, thanks to the application of a classic simple machine: the lever. Or, in this case, two levers. Also, gears play a role here, as does torque, but enough physics and mechanics — let's open wine with a wing corkscrew.
1. Position the corkscrew above the wine bottle and firmly grasp the bottom of the corkscrew and the top of the bottle with one hand.
2. Twist the handle clockwise until the coils of the corkscrew are fully embedded in the cork. The wings will rise as the corkscrew draws itself downward.
3. Place the bottle on a flat surface, then use both hands to press the wings down simultaneously, drawing the cork up out of the bottle as you do so.
How to open a wine bottle with an electric corkscrew
While not the fastest way to open a wine bottle (a master hand with a waiter's corkscrew will get it done in about five seconds), an electric corkscrew is certainly the easiest way to do it.
And if you can push a button, you can open a bottle of wine.
1. Slide the electric corkscrew over the top of the bottle, ensuring the tip of the first coil is centered on the cork.
2. Press and hold the extraction button until the cork pops out.
3. Push the other button to get the cork back out of the shaft.
That's it. And that last step wasn't even technically part of the process.
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