Photo Credit: Will Wong
You just want to crack open your favourite bottle and pour yourself a glass. Surely it can’t be that difficult!? So why are there so many types of corkscrews? Which is the best and do you need more than one?
Drinking wine should be a relaxing experience, but a crumbled cork, or one stuck part way down the neck of your bottle is anything but. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at five of the most popular corkscrews and answer those questions, so you find which one is right for you and the wine bottle you are trying to get into!
What are The FIVE Most Popular Corkscrews?
The Waiter’s Friend Corkscrew
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Chances are, if you walk into most restaurants or bars, you’ll find waiters, bartenders or sommeliers using one of these, the most common corkscrew out there.
Pros:
1. Small and portable
2. Affordable
3. Comes with a blade to cut the foil.
4. Doubles up as beer or crown cap opener.
5. The adjustable hinge makes it easy to draw the cork with leverage, as long as you pierce the cork in the middle and drill in a clockwise direction.
Cons:
1. For brittle old or dry corks in aged bottles, the need to drill twice might snap and break the cork.
The Screwpull Corkscrew
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This is a variant of the more common design widely available.
Pros:
1. Extremely easy to use. Place the opener over the bottle neck and just turn clockwise.
2. The cork is drawn without the need to pull.
Cons:
1. No foil cutter or crown cap opener attached.
2. A little bulkier and generally pricier than the Waiter’s Friend.
The Butterfly or Winged Corkscrew
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Designed by Alessandro Mendini for Alessi in 2003, with Anna’s smiling face. This is a designer and collector’s item for your wine connoisseur friends, or yourself. Other designs and brands are available.
Pros:
1. The double arms or wings make opening a bottle a doddle.
2. As you twist clockwise down the cork, the arms raise automatically.
3. You just need to push them down to the default positions and the cork is drawn.
4. Some other models double up as crown cap openers with their top.
5. A wide range of designs and materials available.
Cons:
1. No blade or foil cutter attached.
2. It does most jobs effortlessly but may not be foolproof for an old and brittle cork.
The Lever Wine Bottle Opener
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Highly intuitive and simple to use: turn the lever by three-quarters of a circle till the worm/spiral is raised. Securely hold the two handles round the neck of the bottle; then reverse the lever to its original position and now the worm is totally inserted into the cork. Now, turn the lever once more and the cork is drawn effortlessly.
Pros:
1. Most designs come with a stand as well as a foil cutter.
2. This is probably our favourite option for either natural or synthetic corks.
Cons:
1. Bulkier and heavier than most other options; not really portable.
2. A wide range of prices depending on the brand and design.
The Two-prong (Ah-So) Wine Bottle Opener
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Also known as the Ah-So opener, this is best for very old bottles (10 years +) with natural cork which could have become dry and brittle. You push the longer prong down one side of the cork, followed by the shorter one on the opposite side. Then wiggle it back and forth to slide the two prongs further down. With a firm grip on the sides of the two prongs as well as the top handle, slowly turn the cork to draw it whilst feeling your heart beat.
Pros:
1. It does not pierce through the cork thus reduces the risk of snapping it.
Cons:
1. Best use a foil cutter to make a clean space.
2. Requires trial and error, and a little practice on how best to wiggle the two blades down the sides of the cork, before turning and drawing it.
Which Corkscrews Work Best With The Most Common Bottle Closures?
The Best Corkscrews for A Cork with a Foil Cover
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You can use any of the above; and probably wouldn’t need the Two-Prong one. My favourite at home is the lever as it simply requires two seamless motions with very low risk of pushing the cork down or breaking it.
The Best Corkscrews for A Cork with No Foil
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Such bottles are best stored horizontally in the dark away from fluctuating temperatures. We have had the unfortunate experience of losing half a bottle of natural wine on the rack; as the pressure inside the bottle pushed the cork out when summer temperatures hit 42ºC!
Having said that, you don’t need a foil cutter and could examine the state of the cork easily against natural light or using the torchlight on your mobile phone.
Again, any of the first four corkscrew options work.
The Best Corkscrews for A Wax Seal
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They look classy and alluring, don’t they? This ancient method has made a comeback especially with natural, organic and biodynamic wine producers.
Whilst we have seen experienced winemakers use a knife to cut the wax away from the bottle’s rim, others vouch that this is totally unnecessary. You can just pretend there is no wax there and drill right through. Once you’ve screwed the ‘worm’ all the way in, simply pull the cork up and it should break through the wax seal. ‘What if the wax proves stubborn and starts crumbling around the neck?’ you ask. Fear not. Get a piece of clean damp cloth to wipe round the bottleneck and slowly draw the cork. Wipe away any remaining debris and you are good to pour, swirl and sip!
What is the Best Overall Corkscrew?
So, which corkscrew should you get? Is there one best all-rounder or do you need different tools for different bottles?
Well, The Waiter’s Friend probably ticks most boxes. It’s budget friendly, light and portable. We would start with that if you are relatively new to wine, or get a low cost butterfly option.
Opening very old bottles (over ten years in storage or vintage-wise) requires a different approach. Yes, get that foil cutter and wiggle your way through with the Ah-So (not necessarily pricey and widely available online).
Photo Credit: Will Wong
Honestly, the best option is not having to use one at all. Natural cork (mostly from Portugal) has been the industry standard and tradition for centuries; and now increasingly synthetic ones are here to stay.
Whilst debates between using the more sustainable natural cork and metallic screwcaps carry on, I love their simplicity to open and also the ability to store vertically if you don’t have enough space on your wine rack. There are now premium screwcaps designed to allow varying tiny amounts of air into the bottle.
As seen above, this Austrian producer has cleverly used the screwcap and bottleneck to promote a distinctive visual and national identity. For various reasons, many producers especially in Australia and New Zealand have been bottling with screwcaps for decades. That applies whether the wine costs £40 or £400. This might alter for the once all-important export market in China as screwcaps are perceived as closures for cheap and inferior wines.
What’s your preferred corkscrew and why? Or maybe you have some tips that have served you well over the years? Get in touch and let us know!
If you’re interested in the right way to store wine correctly before opening it, then we’ve got another guide here on just that!
By Will Wong
