I think your comparison is a good one, though with perhaps with a bit of a twist. I think there are factors of prestige and design that come into play as well.
I’ve got some “good watches”, mechanical/automatics, that I really like. They don’t keep time as well as my weekend beater Seiko, which has the advantage of quartz accuracy. Nevertheless, I love these “good” watches in a way that isn’t at all objective. Love them. Yes, the knowledge of what went into the manufacture of these “good” watches is a consideration, but at the end of the day, invariably I like the way they look. Maybe someday I’ll even update to an all gold version…Will the all gold version keep better time? No. Will the Code-38 Stealth remove a cork better than the Code-38 Pro? I doubt it, but I bet the stealth looks really cool, and at that point, who cares about the extra $170? At that point, there’s nothing terribly objective about the decision.
I do wish the Durand would come down a bit in price, as I’d like to have one for home, one for up North, and a few to gift to friends. Frankly, that just isn’t gonna happen at $125 per. Maybe a volume discount
Looks like an amazing product, but at $125 I am not inclined to pull the trigger on impulse. And, no disrespect intended, but I prefer more transparency about pricing on websites. Let me know up front what it costs, before I click on the “buy” button.
Until production ramps up, costs, thus price, will always be high on something like this, but I’m with Howard here, I’ve never not gotten the wine out of a bottle.
Depends on whether you are opening a lot of old bottles all at once. We did a quite large old Bordeaux (30’s -50’s) dinner once, and it took two of us well over an hour just to open the bottles…this threw all the timings off on the night and was generally very annoying, and not really a fun way to start.
Also, by being able to easily get the cork out, you do not have to then strain or decant the wine to get out that crumbly cork that totally broke apart, or that moldy bit that fell in…a process which may not be ideal for older fragile wines (like say Burgs in particular…).
I’m not sure I really care how cool I look, the corkscrew looks or the sommelier looks while using the corkscrew , but hey, if that’s your thing go for it, its your $400.
More to the point, I think $125 is a little pricey but as mentioned previously, we’ve all likely spent more for bottles of wine (and probably countless other gadgets and tools) so the service longevity and effectiveness of this product seems to make it a worthwhile purchase.
I’ve never been good at bargaining: I’m in either way but will wait and see if it goes on sale for Berserker Day. IMO, it is worth $125 assuming it works as well and as easily as the video and personal testimonies say.
I don’t open a lot of old bottles, but when I do, it is a big deal to me and to my guests. It dampens the spirit to be forced to pour around, or retrieve, a cork that has pushed inside. It’s a pain to pick pieces of cork out of that first glass, or to strain the wine through a filter, cheese cloth, coffee filter, whatever. It would be a much nicer experience to just get the cork out correctly the first time.
I usually go straight to the Ah-so for older bottles and it works like a charm. I’m not really sure what the $125 combo with the worm adds to the equation. I also have an old Screwpull if I felt I needed an extra long worm in addition. The Durand looks cool but I don’t see it doing anything more than what the Ah-so does already.
If the Ah-so was already in the neck of the bottle, I would agree with you. But sometimes while putting the Ah-so in, I end up pushing the cork into the bottle if it’s a bit loose. Having the corkscrew in before that would prevent that problems.
A testimonial for the Durand in action… I used my newly arrived Durand for our Old California dinner this weekend - wines ranging from 1941 to 1986, and all corks were pulled with no trouble and in one piece. I was able to confidently wait until the last moment to pull corks before the food came out for each course, with no worries about needing addition time to strain pieces of cork, etc. The tool allowed us to time the wines with the food perfectly, which makes it worth at least the asking price for just one dinner.
I opened my first bottle with a Durand: the 1970 Palmer opened at the STG dinner on Friday. There was ZERO chance that I was getting that out with a regular corkscrew, and frankly the cork was dicey enough and long enough that even a regular Ah-So would have been a bit of roulette (although I generally am really good with an Ah-So).
The Durand is certainly not inexpensive, but it is a solid, precise and cleverly engineered tool.
![[scratch.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/42a16863a8714da3c1604419e3eb9206bb87aa50.gif "scratch"){kind=small}
, but hey, if that’s your thing go for it, its your $400.