Quote:
Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
I am a snob and a former waitress who used to open wine, so honestly, secretly (I guess it is not so secret anymore) I look down on those who use fancy corkscrews because I think everyone should be able to open wine with a waiter's corkscrew.
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I think this, not because I'm snobby about corkscrews, but because these are the only ones that work reliably, and I hate the idea of anyone being stranded with a bottle of wine they can't open because their too-complicated opener died.
My parents had a double lever type when I was growing up, like this:
They sometimes broke the cork in half, and the levers would get off kilter and wiggly, and they generally sucked. But, hey, it was the '70s and no one had anything better. Then my parents got a screwpull:
These were much easier to use, but the forked part would get "sprung" over time and the screwing action would pull the whole thing down over the bottle neck rather than pulling out the cork. Therefore, I concluded that these, also, suck, though my parents still swear by it.
Next up was the two-prong:
These had the great benefit of looking really cool and modern. They worked not at all.
Not being able to quite convince myself that some fancy schmancy big machine was necessary in my college dorm room, I finally broke down and tried the good, old fashioned waiter corkscrew.
$5 at the supermarket, and, once you learn to use them, the suckers work every time and don't break down. And you can manage them no matter how drunk and wobbly you are (very useful when trying to open bottles of wine while wasted in a row boat, for example).
Now, modest though they may be, one can still drop some cash and get a really expensive, cool one:
Anyone with a fetish for really good cooking knives would appreciate the inherent snobbery in a Laguiole corkscrew. And know that it ran you between $110 and $180.
