Although wine in boxes and screw-top bottles can be very good indeed, you might occasionally find yourself in a situation that calls for a corkscrew. The simplest of these devices consists of a helix-shaped length of metal — the screw — with a point at one end and a handle at the other.The idea is to screw the pointy end into the cork, hold the bottle in one hand, or perhaps under the arm, and yank the cork out with the other. If the cork is in good shape (i.e., doesn’t crumble) it comes out of the bottle with a satisfying “pop” and everyone applauds your feat of strength. But for the purposes of this discussion, the condition of the cork is irrelevant. It’s your shape that inspires me to include the corkscrew’s relatively simple technology in The Grown-Up’s Guide.
You see, pulling a cork straight out of its bottle requires more strength than you might think. Or maybe not: If you’ve tried to use a simple corkscrew lately, you probably know exactly how much strength it takes, and might even be nursing a slightly pulled shoulder muscle. The solution, as we all learned in Junior High, is leverage, which allows us achieve the necessary force without undue exertion.
In the corkscrew arena there are several ways to gain leverage, but the goal is to find one that doesn’t require the substitution of skill for strength. In other words, a corkscrew that gets the job done without the need for muscle or lots of practice.
The most common leverage-based corkscrew is known as the “waiter’s” model. In theory, it’s simple: screw it into the cork, place the bottle rest on the rim, and lift the long end. If you’ve got the screw properly centered, and the cork isn’t too long, the first lift will bring it nearly all the way out of the bottle. At that point, relatively little personal force will be needed to finish the job. Centering the corkscrew is important, both to keep from damaging the cork and to assure good contact between the bottle rest and the rim. Aside from this need to center the screw, one major usability issue keeps the waiter’s model from being an ideal corkscrew. As you lift the lever to remove the cork, the force you’re exerting begins to transfer from upwards to sideways, pushing the cork against the inside of the bottle’s neck. Depending on the length and condition of the cork, you could wind up with half a cork stuck at the bottom of the neck. It’s best, I think, to leave the waiter’s corkscrew in the hands of actual waiters.
Probably the most common easy-to-use household corkscrew is the double lever type. It uses a gear and rack system that raises a pair of levers — sometimes called wings — as you turn the knob that inserts the screw into the cork. A side benefit of the basic design is that the screw is automatically centered in the cork. When the screw is fully inserted in the cork, you press down on the levers and the cork comes out in one easy motion. Some double-lever corkscrews incorporate a bottle opener into the handle, making them ideal for picnics and tailgate parties. If you opt for a double lever corkscrew, be aware that some models are more ergonomically designed than others. Look especially at the handle — the part that you have to turn to insert the screw into the cork — to make sure it’s comfortable and wide enough to provide a good grip. Note, too, that some double lever models replace the time-honored helical screw with what appears to be a large wood screw, the kind you’d use to put together a deck or bookshelf. Avoid this type, as it’s more likely to bust up a cork that isn’t in perfect shape to begin with.
The double lever would be the logical first choice were it not for the introduction, in the early 1980s of the Screwpull (shown with the company’s foil cutter). Deceptively simple, the Screwpull (now a division of Le Creuset) consists of a thin, extra-long Teflon-coated screw and a plastic frame that grips the bottle’s neck and centers the screw. You turn the handle until the screw is in the cork, and then, as you keep turning it, the cork ascends from the neck and winds up out of the bottle high on the screw, surrounded by the wider part of the frame. The original Screwpull is also available in a travel model. Its single removable lever is longer than the standard model’s twist handle, which reduces the effort needed to remove the cork.
If the original Screwpull has a drawback, it is that after several years of regular use the Teflon coating begins to wear. This can make it difficult to remove the cork from the screw. This problem has been addressed by the introduction of a new series that incorporates an automatic ejection technology called Activ-Ball. Like the original, the Activ-Ball version of the Screwpull is available in both tabletop and portable versions.
Within the context of conventional (i.e. you do the twisting) corkscrews, the Activ-Ball Screwpull is my first choice. This is not to say there isn’t an easier way to get the job done. Demonstrating that sometimes you do, indeed, get what you pay for, several manufacturers offer semi-automatic lever-action models that will remove a cork in roughly one second, with almost no effort at all.
With these models you swing a pair of clamps into position to hold the neck of the bottle, swing the lever in one direction to insert the screw, and then swing it back to remove the cork. Metrokane’s Rabbit (shown) and Le Creuset’s Screwpull Lever Model are two very popular models that have stood the test of time. In the absolute, you don’t need a corkscrew like this. The Activ-Ball Screwpull will get the job done with very little additional effort, and take just a few more seconds doing so. But if you consider the “wow” factor, one of these semi-automatics could be worth the extra dough.