Solving the crumbling cork problem

[RDMcG]

I have a fair amount of old wine, especially Port, and from time to time I get the problem of cork disintegration. Have used a variety of corkscrews to deal with this, but recently came across a superb item called the Durand corkscrew. Comes in two pieces that spring apart. THe smaller part is a conventional T shaped corkscrew which is inserted deep in the cork. The large part is a bladed cork remover that is slid around the edge of the cork to loosen it. Then the cork is carefully pulled out using both parts simultaneously. Very handy for old wines, works very well......






(No affiliation evidently..bought it from their website)

[LooneyTunes]

I've looked at those before but not quite got round to buying.

The tines have always looked fairly thick to me compared to a regular butler's thief - it it an optical illusion on the photos or more a case of having the screw in place first avoids the risk of thick tines trying to nudge the cork into the bottle whilst you're inserting them?

For port what you need is a set of tongs and either an open fire or gas stove...

[hedgefinder]

wow.. I really shouldntread thread titles first thing in the morning...
I thought you had some terrible impotence problem at first glance....

[RDMcG]

LooneyTunes said:

I've looked at those before but not quite got round to buying.

The tines have always looked fairly thick to me compared to a regular butler's thief - it it an optical illusion on the photos or more a case of having the screw in place first avoids the risk of thick tines trying to nudge the cork into the bottle whilst you're inserting them?

For port what you need is a set of tongs and either an open fire or gas stove...

Just a bad photo angle...tines are thin. Once the cork is secured with the screw it prevents the problem of dropping into the bottle.

[LooneyTunes]

Thanks, that's useful to know. I might add one to the list of things to buy next time I go shopping in town. After all, you can never have too many corkscrews.