Whatever pops your cork

Whether the long warm summer nights tempt you to a glass of something dry and white or the butler’s away on an early holiday, Ian Macrae thought it was time to give wine an extra twist with a look at corkscrews

Please don’t run away with the idea that I’m some sort of old luddite. In solidarity with many of my fellow-disabled quaffers, I think that the replacement of corks with screw tops on wine bottles may well be the best thing since Mother’s Pride made the bread knife redundant. Anything that makes enjoying a glass of wine easier for us is fine by me. But hey, come on, you have to admit that, if you’re able, there’s nothing that quite matches the satisfying pop of cork leaving bottle. Unless it’s the satisfying glug of wine going into glass, or the satisfying warmth as it fills the mouth.

With corkscrews, as with glasses of wine, I’ve had a few and am here to tell you that they come in a wide and sometimes whacky variety of shapes, sorts and sizes. The basic one, familiar favourite of French waiters, is T-shaped and consists of a piece of wood with a twisted metal spike, the helix, coming out from it. You simply twist it down through the cork then pull. This is unlikely to be a goer for you if you don’t have the full complement of hands or fingers to grip it with, or you have any issues relating to hand or upper body strength. Some of those corks can be really stubborn.

Leverage is often used to make pulling the cork easier. One type of corkscrew goes over the top of the neck of the bottle and, as you twist to drive the helix through the cork, two metal arms at either side rise up. You then push down on these to bring the cork up and out. The main thing here is to ensure that the bottle isn’t on a smooth or slippery surface which could cause it to skid away from you as you exert pressure.

There are a range of corkscrews sold under the Le Creuset Screwpull brand. They may be different sizes and different prices but they work on the same basic principle. A long handle fits to the top of the helix for ease of turning and the helix goes down through the cork. But because it’s mounted in a frame, as the helix goes down it forces the cork up and out. Provided you’re able to fit the pieces together and grip and turn the handle, it makes opening very easy. The one watchword here is price.
I’ve recently found one which retails for £99. And the cheapest is around £15.

Finally, the one which really does bring more power to your elbow. Last Christmas, a colleague told me about his electric corkscrew (left). He got his because it works pretty well with his impairment. I, on the other hand, just had to have one. Looking a little like a menacing silver missile, it stands a foot high on its charging stand. There’s a two-way push button which, when pushed downward, drives into and pulls the cork. The cork is then ejected by pushing the button upwards. It doesn’t always like synthetic corks, and estimates of how many uses you get from a full charge vary from 20 to around 50.

Price information

Le Creuset Screwpull range. Widely available in department stores, wine accessory shops and online. Prices from £15 to £99.

Rechargeable electric corkscrew. Widely available online. Google search brought up hundreds of results. See for example amazon.co.uk

Price around £30 but available for less.