Old Screwpull for young, Durand for old. Just replaced the screw on the levered device and its soooo smooth. Sometimes will use a CO2 injector to loosen up really antique corks and then Durand them if they dont pop on the first squirt. Was lucky to get a long screw Durand from JFTlOP and works great on old bdx with really well endowed corks.
I’m not familiar with that acronym. I have two Durands (replaced a lost one that was later found), but occasionally wish they had a longer worm.
WT
Rabbit for most everything; waiter’s double for synthetic; Ah-so for the problem children.
Rabbit works really well for those goofy wax capsule bottles. What a mess!
Jus for the love of port.
Alessi ‘waiters corkscrew’ (the parrot - double lever, longish thread, convenient blade closing mechanism, I have this in various designs). Basic screwpull and Butlers thief on stand-by for older corks. I have had a few rabbits, but probably not full quality - Ive always found then slightly dodgy mechanically especially on newer corks.
My favourite used to be a simple basic very long screw that was embedded in a vine root that by craftsmanship or luck was a perfect fit in my hand. The long screw was perfect for Bordeaux bottles etc. Total comfort and total control. But after some 40 years of use metal fatigue set in and it broke. It was a gift (and a long time ago) so haven’t tried to replace. Have the handle as a souvenir of many happy bottles, my wife actually framed it. Correction - had it framed LOL.
Wax - the trick is to warm the wax with the palm of your hand before inserting the screw.
So, the OP kind of changes the parameters by qualifying that his ‘everyday’ wines are 5-15 years old.
I am ITB and my ‘everyday’ wines are generally current vintage (1-4yrs old) samples. I have all manner of double hinge waiters corkscrews lying around and they are just fine for this purpose. I looked at a few and the brand names are: Pulltaps, Pulltex, Coutale Sommelier Premium, and Murano. Generally I use these for older wines also. I am not very good with the ah-so. I do have a Screwpull somewhere, and I used my cousin’s at her place tonight and was reminded how easy and convenient it is. If I have a really old wine I am usually with a group, so somebody will have a better corkscrew than I do. I need to acquire a Durand.
I prefer not to warm the wax up, tends to make a mess of the worm at times. When the wax is cold, it’s much more brittle and easier to chip off. So I just pierce through it, pull slightly and knock off all the wax on the top of the cork and neck
I’m not suggesting melting the wax!! Just 20 seconds with palm of hand. Seems to have it break into larger chunks. But my experience is limited - Dom Roche de Bellene and Julien Brocard mainly in terms of current cellar but various other odd bottles. Very curious for other people’s tips.
I know. Maybe it’s just me, but my experience with simply rubbing the wax with the palm of my hands for a short bit tended to leave the worm coated in wax. After that happens, I’ve found it nearly impossible to get it off. With one corkscrew I basically stripped off the entire teflon coating trying to get the wax off. I’ve found that piercing through the wax cold without rubbing it yielded better results. The wax isn’t softened and is brittle so it breaks clean off and you can just knock off the pieces of it after pulling the cork off slightly to ensure no wax falls into the bottle. Those wax tops are always a pain, so go with whatever works best for you.
Not a fan of waiter’s corkscrews. For me, a screwpull is just so much easier to use.
So, I do screwpull unless I think I need something more and then I pull out my Durand.
I’ve also noticed that Italian wine corks often seem incredibly tight…It can sometimes require an incredible amount of force to remove them, and sometimes I’m even worried I will break the corkscrew…and the cork itself never breaks/crumbles in these scenarios.
I’ve been more pleased with my Franmara Boomerang than with any of the two step models I’ve used, including the original Pulltap (before their patent expired and the market flooded with knockoffs) and the Coutale. It works well enough with older corks that I find I’m using my Durand a lot less. I’m not as fond of the two step model. Here’s a link: https://www.amazon.com/Franmara-Boomerang-Corkscrew-04-0485-Category/dp/B001BQ9HDI/ref=mp_s_a_1_44?dchild=1&keywords=franmara+corkscrew&qid=1605535914&sr=8-44.
Same.
Note that Screwpull makes different types of wine openers.
-Al
My wife and I got a Forge de Laguiole corkscrew for our wedding and it’s fantastic. Maybe the best worm I"ve seen. I grew up using an Ah-So and do on problem bottles but the Laguiole is the everyday.
I use this which was $15 or so as I now prefer the action vs. some of the more expensive single lever “laguiole” style openers I have including a somewhat pricy (gifted) Laguiole en Aubrac. Have a Durand which is rarely used unless I have something over 20 or 25 to open. It will likely be used more as the cellar continues to age.
Looks like what I use the most (silver body). I also use screwpull sometimes for young wines or when wax is involved. Ah-so for medium / old age. Durand for old age only.
Double-hinged waiter’s corkscrew
I just love the Cork-Pop which injects air. Have heard of the problem with exploding bottles, never had an issue. It’s by far the easiest when it works (95% of the time).
I also like my old hand me down winged version because of it’s thick screw don’t like the worm wires).
The Durand sounds good, any tips on how to find it for less that $125 (funny, Amazon wants over $180 for it).
