wine opener

S

slotstik

Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Messages
342
had a rabbit knock-off from costco, was made of metal but was always very stiff and moderately difficult to use because of this. figured it was simply due to poor precision of the parts that make the lever work.

so i bought a metrokane rabbit, but because of its plastic construction it's starting to fail and has become dangerous to use. way way way overpriced (i think it was about $50), very disappointed. it's a piece of crap!

so looking for a nice opener. even a simple resturaunt-style corkscrew if someone knows of a quality one they can recommend. looking for something that works well, is a good value, and is a joy to use. thanks guys...
 
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I probably have the same one you have from Costco and love it. It works perfectly for me.

The only other wine opener I really like is a regular old waiters wine opener.
 
i hear you with the costco piece. since it's so cheap (i think mine was $10) there's probably a hit and miss factor due to quality control. however, i bought a few as gifts too and they vary, but a few a pretty impossible for the women to use.

regular waiter's wine opener is definately an option, was wondering if someone had a nice one they cherished and could recommend.
 
slotstik said:
i hear you with the costco piece. since it's so cheap (i think mine was $10) there's probably a hit and miss factor due to quality control. however, i bought a few as gifts too and they vary, but a few a pretty impossible for the women to use.

regular waiter's wine opener is definately an option, was wondering if someone had a nice one they cherished and could recommend.
Click to expand...

Maybe we've got different ones then. The one I got was around $50 or $60.
 
I never regretted getting the kershaw sommelier's tool. Not sure if its still in production tho.

Cheers,
b
 
Stay away from "rabbit" style wine openers that have plastic gears - find one with metal gears. Before I got a rabbit, I always liked the "swimmer" type of screw pull.
 
A well-made classic waiter's tool is very good. A well-made classic winged cork screw is also quite good. Everything else is a gimick. Notice the use of "well-made." There's a lot of cheap stuff out there. As my sainted father used to say, "The joy of low price is quickly forgotten amidst the frustration and disappointment of poor quality." A good cork screw should last you... oh.... more or less.... your lifetime. A cheapie may break after just a few bottles. So, spend the extra money -- and we're talking about maybe twenty bucks here -- and get a good one.
 
mtrunner said:
I'm a server in a very high end restraunt...have opened 1000's of bottles...I did 66,000$ in wine sales last year.
http://shop.laguiole.com/catalog/forge-laguiole-sommelier-briar-p-206.html
This is what I use. I have tried many others...these are the best.
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Aye CARUUUUUMBAAAA!! That's a lot of bottles with kangaroos and peguins on 'em.....like the Yellow Tail and Little Penguin that I drink. I'm afraid to try nice stuff like you sell because I wouldn't wanna drink these anymore! Oh yeah, it's always some sort of Victorinox with a 'pigtail' I use to get 'em open.
 
I drink wine every day and I am fond of waiter's tools, I have many, my best is a horn handled Chateau Laguiole which unfortunately is not in any of these pictures.

I have several Laguioles and they all work well, the inexpensive Jean Dubost with plastic scales (first picture, second from bottom in the middle) is a good beater.

For pure functionality one with a two step lever is probably best, the second picture shows 4 of these, my favorite being the Pulltaps on the top left.

You can see some Pulltaps here.

In the first picture you can also see a Screwpull (white, middle top), it works just fine, and a big two lever in the bottom right, this type works well but some have a big screw instead of a spiral and tend to destroy the cork, also some do not work well with wide mouth bottles.

Luis


Click to enlarge
 
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Laguiole for me as well. Still a classic tool that stands up to any gadget out there.
 
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