THE PERFECT UNCORKING

Cork is wine’s greatest ally. It keeps it alive throughout its aging process until the moment we open the bottle. We must be very careful so that, at the moment of uncorking, the stopper does not go from being an ally to our worst enemy. To achieve this, we just need to follow a few simple steps that will prevent the cork from breaking and presenting a dirty wine.

If we were to talk about this task in a professional setting, we would have to list the 19 steps that a sommelier must master when opening and decanting a wine. However, we will focus on the best way to do it at home, without the piercing gaze of customers but with the pressure of generating laughter among our friends and family. To ensure a good uncorking, we will follow this decalogue:

1. Place the bottle in a vertical position.
2. The label should face the other diners.
3. Cut the capsule below the collar, which is the part that protrudes on the neck of the bottle.
4. Insert the corkscrew spiral while pressing and turning simultaneously.
5. Use the first lever of the two-step corkscrew.
6. Once five centimeters of the cork have emerged, use the second support of the corkscrew.
7. Avoid making noise when removing the cork.
8. Make sure there are no cork residues left in the wine.
9. Smell the cork to ensure it is in good condition.
10. The best part: enjoy the wine.
11. But what happens when we only want to drink one glass of wine and keep the rest in perfect condition? For these situations, there is Coravin, a system invented by MIT Massachusetts engineer Greg Lambrecht, which allows you to pour a glass of wine without uncorking the bottle. The device inserts a needle through the capsule and the cork, and as it extracts the content, it pressurizes the interior of the bottle by filling the empty space left by the wine with argon, a noble gas with very low reactivity that prevents the oxidation of the remaining wine in the bottle.

How to Open a Bottle Without a Corkscrew

Let’s make it even harder. We went on a picnic, we have the food, the wine, the glasses, but we forgot the corkscrew (and, curiously, we also don’t have Coravin at hand). In this extreme situation, there are several ways to remove the cork without a corkscrew. Although there are plenty of tutorials online, we must remember that they are not advisable due to their danger and lack of respect for the wine. However, in an emergency, they can get us out of trouble:

We forgot the corkscrew, but surprisingly, we have a screw and a hammer. In this case, we insert the screw into the cork halfway and then, using the back part of the hammer designed for removing nails, and being very careful not to break the neck of the bottle, we lever it until part of the cork comes out. At that moment, we place the hammer vertically and pull.

• WARNING: Only use in case of emergency! After this warning, and if there is no other option, we come to the “shoe method.” In this case, the bottle is placed inside a flat shoe and the base of the bottle is struck until the cork protrudes enough to be pulled out by hand. The shoe serves to cushion the impact and prevent the bottle from breaking, but a cloth or pillow can also be used. Needless to say, this method is terrible for the wine, which turns into a fermented grape shake.
• The last method is the most sinful but probably the one that respects the inside of the bottle the most. It simply involves pushing the cork inward and imagining that it is a little boat adrift in a sea of wine.
• The best way to avoid any of these methods for opening a bottle without a corkscrew is precisely to always have a corkscrew on hand. That way, the enjoyment of wine is guaranteed.