The Art of Coming Uncorked

"More innovation has gone into corkscrew design in the last three centuries than any other tool. People are still searching for the perfect corkscrew." Said Raj Kanodia, a mechanical engineer from India who started Palo Alto-based Corkscrew.com.

As I continue my journey learning about wine and its rich history, and the nuances of flavor, preparation, and serving. I am constantly astounded by how complex it is. Before beginning on this voyage, I had always seen numerous styles of corkscrew on the market, and always thought of them as just 'bar tender gadgets' with no particular meaning other than opening a bottle.
Well after coming across several articles online about the vast verity of them, and their uses, and how there really is a difference between a Waiter's Corkscrew, and a Winged Corkscrew. I also had some sticker shock when looking and seeing the price gap between $1.00 and $200 for a corkscrew. So I was naturally curious as to see why these prices existed for a tool that opened bottles of wine and champagne. 

Waiters Style 

This style of corkscrew is most common in the food industry. It features a foil knife, a bottle opener, and the corkscrew. This type of corkscrew is more manual and can take some getting use to. As you need to manually place the Worm (the technical term for the screw) in the right location of the cork, and sometimes assert up to a Herculean 100lbs of force in order to remove the cork. Which if done improperly could cause the cork itself to crumble or break, causing one to have to push the remaining into the wine itself. Doing so can not only ruin the wine, but if you did manage to fish out all the bits, in many cases leaves a sour off putting taste in the wine.



Wing Style

These are the styles typically found within the home. This type positions the worm over the center of the cork, and rest firmly on the neck of the bottle.  As you turn the lever the worm drills into the cork, causing the arms or 'wings' to lift up. After having the worm in deep enough, one pushes down on the wings and the cork pops right off (well sometimes you have to pull just a bit.) It is recommended that when buying this type you stick with the more traditional worm. Sometimes the worm will look more like a drill bit and will only hollow out the inside of the cork and not actually open it.



Torque Style

Another style where users turn a handle to screw in the cork uses a torque mechanism to twist the cork up and out of the bottle. This style take most if not all the effort out of opening a bottle. It is also recommended for opening old bottles of wine with sediment, as there is no shaking or stirring to kick it up and disturb the purity of the wine.







Lever Style

With lever styles, openers grip handles that fit around the bottle's top like pliers. With a second hand, they push a lever down, forcing the worm into the cork, and then pull it back up, pulling the cork out. This is considered the easiest way to open a bottle. 








Corkpop Style

Less common but a good style for persons who have troubles with their hands. The Corkpop style uses either Co2 (carbon dioxide) gas or air to pressurize the bottle just enough to force the cork out. In earlier models of this style of corkscrew, they had a manual hand pump which forced air into the bottle. Nowadays you will find that most have the carbon dioxide cartridge. Some experts say that the gas can actually improve the flavor of the wine itself.





Ah-So Style

As you can see the Ah-So has two prongs. One is typically longer than the other and is inserted into the neck on either side of the cork. This style requires some patients and a bit of a song and dance to get it out, as you have to twist, pull, and wiggle it down and then pull it up to yank out the cork. At Chateau Ste. Michelle, tour guides will sometimes demonstrate use of the Ah-So and tell a tale about how it got its name: When someone finally figures out how simple the procedure really is, they say, "Ah, so that's how it works." Probably easier to just break the bottle than use this style.



The Vacu Vin Wine Master

The Vacu Vin Wine Master style is the most industrious of all of the corkscrews, and looks like something straight out of a Sci Fi movie. Fitting over a bottle, the opener pulls one set of levers down to push in the worm, which sends the second set of levers up. Pulling those down brings out the cork and pushing the first set again drops it.

It does a good job, but novelty is the selling point.

So out of all of these different machines, which do I have?

My simple and beloved Wing "man" pictured here with a cork from Crane Lake Gewurztraminer 2013 still in it. It is simplistic, sturdy, and metal. It does the job, and is easy for me to use. Though I may look into getting a Waiter, just so I don't have to fish for a knife.

~Cheers