Wine Opener

Let me start by saying that I have used many types of corkscrews. I owned a winery and over many years opened thousands of bottles of wine. I've used many types of cork pulling devices from jumping jack with arms, the rabbit, the plastic .99 cent T handle, electric corkscrews and antique lever action devices. I've always come back to the tried and true waiters folding corkscrew, and even among this type there are winners and losers. So i was intrigued by the Gourmet Easy Corkscrew and was keen to try it.

The Gourmet Easy corkscrew comes elegantly packaged in a form fitting, black velvety lined insert that shows off the beauty of this device. With a mirror polished stainless steel body, this heavyweight tool just exudes quality. It is very pretty and feels substantial in you hand. A small illustrated instruction sheet accompanies the corkscrew, and you will likely need this if you have not used this type of corkscrew.

Key to getting started is to back the little Chef head to the end of the threaded screw. Place the lower ring of the corkscrew on the rim of the bottle making certain to keep this level and even while centering the screw point perpendicular to the cork. Push down while twisting the screw 3/4 of the way into the cork. Next, flip the Chef's head and turn the handles to extract the cork. It will pull the cork evenly up and out of the neck. On the first few tries, this seems like a finicky operation and a lot of wrist action, making one wonder if this is the answer to a question no one asked. After a few a few practice sessions, the operation does become smooth and fluid.

I think this is something that would make a nice gift for the wine aficionado in your life. It is beautiful tool, well made tool and would compliment a wine cellar or bar. Likely a nice conversation piece.

Ultimately, it seems like a lot of wrist action and turning to do what my favorite waiter's corkscrew does with less effort. I would love to see their version of a waiters corkscrew.

Easy open sturdy corkscrew. Built to last years of opening wine. Heavy duty. Good value.

We are in the wine business and particularly with older wine the corks can be difficult to remove using the standard waiter's corkscrew. The corks are often brittle and stuck. I thought this would be a great addition for those times when there's an old bottle to be opened or a particularly tight cork. I tested it on a 11 year old bottle with a long cork. It worked well removing most of the cork but it did break and I had to use it a second time to get the remnant out. However, there was no cork in the wine which was the goal. (Unfortunately, the Rioja was not stored very well and the wine wasn't any good.) I liked the heft of the corkscrew and the clever mechanism which assures a constant force is applied to the center of the cork. I will approach these bottles with much more confidence.

I am not the best at using some of the smaller wine openers and this one makes the task easier. This bad boy is heavy-duty and has an elegant style to boot. I am more confident when I need to open wine while entertaining guests.

This is a sturdy, fairly heavy stainless steel opener. It takes a little getting used to, because you have to flip the top over to remove the cork, but I found that it worked GREAT for getting the cork out, better than the usual wine openers with the arms. I've never encountered an opener like this before but it really seems to remove the cork much easier. I appreciated that instructions were included and once you get used to the sequence, it works great. This would make a great gift for any wine lover!