Opening a bottle of wine would seem to be a no-brainer. You insert the corkscrew and pull the cork. Right?
Well, I don’t know about you but in the past I’ve fought with a wine bottle, struggling to get the cork out. So, short of having a Sommelier open the bottle at your table, you want this to be a quick and simple process so that you can get to enjoying wine.
In today’s wine world, may wineries are packaging their wines in bottles with twist-off caps. So, if your bottle has one of those (and, yes, they are just as good as a cork!) go right ahead and twist that bottle open. But, for those bottles that have a cork, I’ve learned over the years that pulling the cork can almost be as simple.
The “trick’ is to use the right opener. And, there are a lot of different types of wine openers out there. I’ve tried them all and have learned that the double-hinged ‘Waiter’s Friend’ corkscrew (shown in the photo) is the best.
With this type of corkscrew, you use the small serrated blade at end of the handle to cut the foil capsule just below the lower lip on the neck of the bottle. Once the foil is removed, fold the blade back into the handle. Now, pull the screw out of the handle and insert it into the center of the cork. Then, holding the bottle by the neck with one hand and with the base of the bottle on a table or countertop, twist the screw into the cork until approximately one curl of the screw remains visible above the cork. Keeping one hand on the neck of the bottle, place the end of the lever on the lip of the bottle and gently pry the cork out of the bottle approximately half-way. Then, use the second step on the double-hinged lever to pry the cork fully out of the bottle. This process of prying the cork out of the bottle should not be difficult.
The reason that this corkscrew is called a Waiter’s Friend is because it truly is. This corkscrew can be used to open a bottle of wine with just one hand on the opener while the waiter is standing at your table instead of needing to place the bottle on a table and use two hands on the opener like so many other openers require.
A Waiter’s Friend corkscrew is available at most liquor or grocery stores. While you can pay a lot for a hand-crafted model, the basic models of a Waiter’s Friend should be in the $5-10 price range.
Here’s to easily opening a bottle of wine. Cheers!