The Auswine Forum

Old or soft cork bottle openers?

Now I think there are two main types to use but am not sure which is best. The first being a needle and pump type that pumps air into the bottle causing the cork to rise out of the bottle under pressure. The second is a prong type that slides two prongs down either side of the cork then applies pressure to pull it out.

Any suggestions which is best or any other good alternatives?

Thanks

Sam

Option 2. The Ah-So, or 'thieving butler'. Only needs a little practice, and you need to be careful near the end when the cork might begin to slide down, but still a pretty good all-round tool.
Don't like pumping air into a bottle - don't like to think about weaknesses in the glass. Plus it takes forever, as every movement drops the pressure. They're a great idea - like the monorail - just useless in the real world...
cheers,
Graeme

I've got just about all of them - for really old/fragile corks, have found the compressed gas cylinder with the needle that goes straight thru the cork and injects the gas into the space bet bottom of cork and top of wine works a treat - 'corkpops' is the common proprietary brand - you can sometimes find equivalents on ebay that are a fraction of the retail price of the official version. If the cork doesn't budge & you hear a hissing sound, it means the gas is escaping rapidly thru the cork, ie, the wine is very likely to be stuffed as the cork has not effectively sealed (probably for a long time). Have never had a bottle break or crack on me yet.

Just one thing to watch out for, but this is very rare - some old/very expensive Bordeaux have ultra-long corks that are longer than the needle - ie the gas doesn't make it into the space below the cork - clearly, this could potentially be problematic.

They work perfectly well on new corks too - some restaurants use them to impress their customers

Yeah I'm a Corkpops fan. Never had an issue with it (even on 20+ year old bottles). Don't use them on magnums (according to their instructions).

didn't know that - do they give any reason for not using the gas device on magnums?

Not sure, see below.

Well I went for the two pronged approach and so far works a treat. That said haven’t opened up any very old vintages yet, oldest was a 9 year old bottle that had a pretty good cork. Either way performs so well that I might just use it as my main de-corker.

Thoroughly recommend it.

Sam

And if all else fails I have a gadget that will remove a cork that has been pushed right into the bottle.

I'm just hoping that the bark stays on the trees.

Sharkey wrote:And if all else fails I have a gadget that will remove a cork that has been pushed right into the bottle.

A hammer?

cheers

Carl

I bought my first 'Ah So' about 30years ago and it is still working fine. Bought them for all my friends as I liked it so much. I have opened 30yo Grange and lesser bottles with it and had few difficulties . As long as you are gentle it will remove even slightly loose corks. I have on occasion stabilised a loose cork with a skewer whilst working the two probes down the side of the cork. I think my first 'Ah So' will see me out!