Best Value Wine Bottle Opener
I've had so many friends ask me which I think is the best value wine opener, my answer is always the same, the Le Creuset Classic Table Model knocks spots off the competition. It used to be marketed as Screwpull before Le Creuset acquired the brand.
I say this with the utmost confidence as I've had several of them in my professional life where I had 5 or 6 of the little beauties in my wine shop, and I still have 2 at home! Why two? A spare, I suppose!
Why I Rate Them So Highly
1. They've stood the test of time, and I've never seen one break or even twist.
2. There are only two parts to the opener:
- the main body, i.e. the arms at the side that slide over the bottle neck,
- the T handle with toughened corkscrew that fits through a hole at the top of the body. (Triple-coated stainless steel screw)
3. They have the hallmark of quality, and are made by Le Creuset, who are famous for their popular cookware.
4. A straight forward turn of the handle gently removes a cork in seconds - always without damaging it!
5. It's easy to push the extracted cork off the screw without damaging the cork.
The design was by the inventor Herbert Allen, and was based on the original self-pulling corkscrew model which was all about fast and easy cork removal. It certainly has stood the test of time, and has even inspired the Activ-ball range.
I can't count how many of these I've given to friends and family as presents over the years, but it must be more than a dozen. So, if you're a gentle imbiber who likes the simple things in life - this is one of them!
I know some of you will be saying that most wine bottles now have screw caps rather than corks, which is true, but higher end wines and some reds still have the cork.
What will happen to the cork forests if we cease to use cork? That's for another day!
See how simple cork extraction can be!