Open Wine Bottles
Master The Corkscrew
And Foil Cutter

You now have a bottle of wine in your hand. Now what?

Time to grab that corkscrew and start the festivities. Uh-Oh. What kind of corkscrew should I use?

Actually, we are ahead of ourselves.

First, we have to remove the foil (capsule) at the top of the bottle. There are two ways to do it.

One is to simply use a small knife and cut the foil about three quarters of an inch below the top of the bottle. Hold the knife steady and twist the bottle. This is how they do it in restaurants.

The other way is to use a foil cutter. This gizmo is attached to the top of the bottle. Squeeze it, rotate the bottle, and the circular metal blades inside make a nice clean cut at the top. Then, simply lift the cutter and peel the foil off the top to expose the cork.

Now, the corkscrews. They range from the very basic to quite elaborate. For some real party pizzazz, they make a corkscrew and bottle clamp mounted on a tripod. One friend of mine has one and it’s slick.

But we can keep it simple, too.

After you decide what kind of corkscrew works for you, check out Amazon's extensive selection of corkscrews, foil cutters, and other accessories.

Many types of corkscrews:

• Plain handle corkscrew. This is just an auger (a.k.a. in the wine world as a worm) attached to a handle. I don’t like these because there is no leverage in pulling the cork. You have to yank the cork out with all of your strength. Skip this one.
• Waiter’s or sommelier’s corkscrew. Looking like a Swiss Army knife, it has an auger, a small knife, and a lever type clip.
  1. Twist the auger into the cork.
  2. Place the lever clip on top the bottle.
  3. Push against it while pulling the cork up.

  This one is a cut above the plain handle corkscrew but I sometimes still have trouble with it because you still have to do some yanking and twisting to get the cork out.

  Furthermore, you need to insert the auger dead center or it will tend to pull the cork out at an angle. This increases the chance of it cracking. But, if you can get past those drawbacks, it is a good value for the money.

• Wing Type. This one resembles a pair of pliers.
  1. Twist the auger in.
  2. The two wings flare out and up.
  3. Pull the wings back down while holding the bottle. That pulls the cork out.

  Some people don’t like this one because sometimes the auger doesn’t go deep enough. However, I have never had a problem with that and this too is a good value.

• Screwpull corkscrew. This one looks like an oversize clothespin with a very long auger.
  1. Place this on top of the bottle until the plastic lips of corkscrew rest on top of the bottle.
  2. Hold on to the plastic on both sides and turn the handle clockwise until the cork comes out.
  3. Unscrew the cork counterclockwise from the Screwpull until it comes off.

• A fifth type of corkscrew is a weird looking one called the Ah-So. It has no auger - just two long flat metal prongs. Once you figure out how to use it, you will be saying “Ah, so that’s how it works.”. Hence the name.
  1. Twist and slide the metal prongs between the cork and the inside of the bottle until the top of the corkscrew is resting on top of the bottle.
  2. Then twist the cork until it comes out.

  The advantage to this one is that the cork comes out undamaged.

• Finally, my favorite is the lever corkpull AKA the rabbit because it resembles one when viewed from the side. This one has a clamp for the top of the bottle with a lever on top of the auger.
  1. Open up the lever all the way. This retracts the auger.
  2. Clamp it to the top of the bottle and hold it firmly while setting the tip of the auger on top of the cork.
  3. Pull the lever all the way back - twisting the auger into the cork.
  4. Open up the lever and the cork comes right out.
  5. Afterward, close the lever again.
  6. Grasp the cork and re-open the lever. This retracts the auger from the cork.

  Now, you have a loose cork and an open bottle of wine. Get good at this one and you can do all this in one motion and impress your friends. Quite slick.

TIP: If a cork breaks while you are extracting it, twist the corkscrew diagonally into the cork and pull it gently while holding the bottle firmly.

Some will lament some corkscrews over others because of the probability of damaging the cork and getting it into the wine. Several thoughts on that.

• One is that it’s more a function of the quality of the cork than the corkscrew. If the cork is dry and crumbly, for the most part it won’t matter which corkscrew you use except maybe the Ah-So.
• Secondly, to best prevent mishaps, simply use the corkscrew correctly.
• Thirdly, while cork getting into the wine is of course undesirable, it is not a disaster. It won’t hurt you and you can filter it out. On that note…

There is also a device called a cork retriever. Not a dog from Ireland, it’s three long pieces of wire with hooks on the ends. Just insert it into the neck of the bottle and scoop. Or you can scoop out the pieces with a spoon once you pour the wine. Or you can decant the wine through an ordinary coffee filter or a fine wire mesh.



Now a few words about opening sparkling wine. There is good news and bad news. The good news is that you don’t need a corkscrew. The bad news is that care needs to be taken so you don’t have a hole in your ceiling from a cork that took off like the space shuttle. Incidentally, I once heard that a cork was shot 180 feet into the air at a picnic. I think it’s still in orbit. So here goes…

1. Make sure you are pointing the bottle away from people and fragile objects.
2. Peel off the foil on top of the bottle.
3. Carefully and slowly untwist the wire cage holding down the cork. Hold the cork as you do this.
4. Hold the bottle at a 45 degree angle and slowly twist it while holding the cork very firmly. I emphasize to twist the bottle - not the cork. Use a towel if necessary.
5. Pull slowly at the cork as you do this. As the cork comes out, actually push it back down slightly to keep it from popping too forcefully.

Done correctly, you will get a controlled light pop with a little hissing sound. Music to the ears.

Now your bottle is open! Hurray! Now it is time to serve it.

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