Fine Wine Buying

[SharpieB]

By the way, what is everyone’s favorite wine cork removing device?

I tend to use a

Monopol Westmark Germany Steel Two-Prong Cork Puller ​

as well as The Durand for vintage corks.

I have had a few different plastic 3 piece Screwpulls for decades.

I have had a large wine collection for many years and have all of the gadgets (Ah So opener, Port tongs, fancy Laguille waiter’s corkscrew, etc.) but always go back to my tried and true Screwpulls. They work perfectly IMO. New bottles, 50+ year old Vintage Ports, etc.

Mine are kinda like this…

 

[DrStrange]

By the way, what is everyone’s favorite wine cork removing device?

I tend to use a

Monopol Westmark Germany Steel Two-Prong Cork Puller ​

as well as The Durand for vintage corks.

I also use a two prong.
I got mine on a wine tasting tour at Delicato Vinyards in California
40 years ago.

I like to age Rioja to about 11 years.
That's not enough to make the corks fragile,
but I like make sure to avoid cork crumbs.
When the bottles are stored on their side that long,
the bottom of the cork becomes encrusted in tartrate crystals
and I prefer to not knock them back into the wine.

The cork remover stays in my book bag.
When I visit anybody known to be a wine drinker,
the bag goes with me.

 

[Multum in parvo]

By the way, what is everyone’s favorite wine cork removing device?

I tend to use a

Monopol Westmark Germany Steel Two-Prong Cork Puller ​

as well as The Durand for vintage corks.

Simple Screwpull, I believe you can see it partially in the Moulin au Vent pic.

 

[Multum in parvo]

So from grey theory to real world experience:

Saturday morning and a few rows of Pinot Noir to be hand picked ahead of us.

 

[Multum in parvo]

25% to be used as whole bunches - 75% to be destemmed

 

[Multum in parvo]

1,200 litres of Pinot ready for semi carbonic maceration

18:00 we call it a day

 

[cotedupy]

Monopol Westmark Germany Steel Two-Prong Cork Puller

Love it! I still use my grandparents' old Monopol (especially when I want to confuse/impress people ).

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The very, very best though will always be the classic and ubiquitous "Waiter's Friend". It's basically an unimprovable piece of design.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Love it! I still use my grandparents' old Monopol (especially when I want to confuse/impress people ).

---

The very, very best though will always be the classic and ubiquitous "Waiter's Friend". It's basically an unimprovable piece of design.

View attachment 1738827

I just ordered a Westmark to give it at try.
Wriggle it in, wriggle it out or do I have to turn it also once it is in?

 

[DrStrange]

I just ordered a Westmark to give it at try.
Wriggle it in, wriggle it out or do I have to turn it also once it is in?

Stick the long prong in first.

Alternate between pushing in either prong.
That's the wriggling part.
The prongs should be flexing back and forth as you alternate
pushing in each one.

Once both prongs are in all the way,
twist first to unstick the cork from the glass.

Then, twist while pulling.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Stick the long prong in first.

Alternate between pushing in either prong.
That's the wriggling part.
The prongs should be flexing back and forth as you alternate
pushing in each one.

Once both prongs are in all the way,
twist first to unstick the cork from the glass.

Then, twist while pulling.

I received my Westmark Monopol a minute ago, will try it out in the next days.

 

[DrStrange]

Simple Screwpull, I believe you can see it partially in the Moulin au Vent pic.

I've heard people say that I have no screwpulls.

 

[Tirvine]

I am fine with the waiter's friend. I have one from a swag bag at a golf tournament bearing the name of the tournament, benefiting a Greek orthodox church, and a cheap Laguiole style from the Eyrie in McMinnville, OR. i drink mainly Oregon wines, and many of my favorites have gone to screw caps.

 

[cotedupy]

I just ordered a Westmark to give it at try.
Wriggle it in, wriggle it out or do I have to turn it also once it is in?

As @DrStrange said: wriggle in, twist out.

They don't really work on plastic corks or Nomacorc, and aren't brilliant on Diams that have been compressed a lot into a narrow opening. Very good on all kinds of natural cork though. And once you've got the knack; with a bit of delicacy, they can be very good for removing extremely old or saturated corks.

 

[cotedupy]

Anybody else ever opened a bottle of wine with a shoe...?

I once had to on the outside wall of Lyon airport, because I didn't want to waste a very good bottle of Beaujolais that Matthieu Lapierre had given me, and which I couldn't take in hand luggage so we needed to drink before boarding.

 

[cotedupy]

Basically goes along these lines, and I can confirm it does actually work:

(Obviously I didn't have the pliers afterwards, but I do have teeth).

 

[Tirvine]

Basically goes along these lines, and I can confirm it does actually work:

(Obviously I didn't have the pliers afterwards, but I do have teeth).

Great trick. Probably not a good idea for old vintage Port or Bordeaux.

 

[cotedupy]

Great trick. Probably not a good idea for old vintage Port or Bordeaux.

Ha! Yes, probably not the best method for anything that’s thrown a sediment.

But in a tight spot at a French airport - avec soif mais sans tire bouchon - it can prove invaluable!