Opening the Thing Correctly

Openin’ Some Bottles

It is nice to select a special bottle from a good wine list and have the waiter or waitress open it and successfully pour it for you, but when it’s your turn to open the bottle for your girl or guy, you better be ready. Now don’t be afraid and run the other way, just do it a couple of times and you will be confident enough to do it a hundred more times.

We will talk about opening a regular bottle of still wine and leave the sparkling wine, with the cork that shoots out, for later.


All these bottles of wine are secured with a cork that is very tightly fit to keep the wine from having any contact with oxygen and to keep the DAMN wine in the bottle. To get the cork out you need a corkpull, and there are a few different ones out there that work very well, and don’t take an experienced server to use.

Wing Lever
The easiest opener to use if you have not opened many bottles of wine before is the Wing Lever. It has two handles that move up and down on each side, that you press down on with both hands to bring the cork fully out of the bottle. The screw is encased in the middle of the device and is positioned so it enters perfectly in the center of the cork. Place your wine bottle on a flat surface and insert the corkscrew into the center of the cork and then start turning the key (the only thing that turns) to insert the screw into the cork. As you screw the corkscrew in, the wings will rise, and you will stop screwing when the wings can’t go any further.

Now apply some pressure on both wings (with both hands at the same time) and the cork should ease out of the bottle nicely, and with probably no breakage of the cork. If any cork did get into the wine, absolutely no problem. Remember that cork has been touching the wine for its whole bottled life, they are friends; just remove any cork particles from your glass before drinking. The Wing Lever works nice but would never be used in a restaurant setting (except behind the bar) because you just can’t set the bottle on a guest’s table and break out one of these big openers. You should be able to pick one up for about $6-8, and use it because it is easy.

Dishonest Butler
Next up is the Dishonest Butler or a.k.a. the Oh-So wine opener. It is a funny looking two pronged little opener with a small handle (could be a weapon). The two prongs are a bit flexible and one is a little longer than the other. After you have removed the foil or capsule from the top of the bottle you can place the bottle upright and insert the longer prong down between the bottle and the cork.

Since it is flexible, you bend it so you can insert the shorter prong into the other side, between the cork and bottle. When both sides are inserted slightly into the sides of the bottle a simple rocking motion will push the prongs further into the bottle. When the handle is right at the top of the bottle, remove the cork with a clockwise turning motion and gently pull that sucker out. It sounds like the hardest to do when explained in print but can actually be the easiest. It is called the Dishonest Butler because it should keep the cork in good condition with almost no signs of opening. Then you can drink the good wine, refill it with cheap stuff, recork it and master never knows. Hint, you need to keep the foil capsule intact for future replacement.

Waiters Corkscrew
The third opener is the traditional Waiters Corkscrew. It relies on your simple leverage and the ability to place the screw directly in the middle of the cork. It is simple (like the others), but still there are a large number of restaurant servers who still look awkward when opening wine with it. Putting the bottle between your legs for leverage is not an option when table side at a restaurant. At home, who cares. The knife on one end is to cut thru the foil or capsule that covers the top of the bottle.

Place the bottle on a flat surface or hold the neck of the bottle steadily with one hand and firmly twist the corkscrew straight into the center of the cork. Now screw completely into the cork. Place the forked little metal attachment against the edge of the bottle and pull up with some power and finesse. Not to fast, and try to apply constant pressure. Out comes the cork and now you have beautiful open bottles of wine sitting around.

Some enthusiasts may go for those big counter top or tripod mounted openers that sell for about $100- 200, but once you get to know and enjoy one of these simple openers the big luxury openers are just a good decoration for your summer beach cottage.

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