This works like magic....there are other models of "screwpull" but this is basic and so easy!
Linda c

Here is a link that might be useful: wine opener

Sorry Linda - this one is even easier. I have the one you linked to as well as many many others, and the Rabbit cant be beat!

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: Rabbit wine opener

The one recommended by Linda gets raves from my friends.

Personally, I use the generic waiter type sold by all wine stores. Whichever you use, you must follow the procedure it's designed for. Apparently, the procedure for the screw pull type has fewer steps to it. One step, if I'm not mistaken. When it's in place, just turn and turn and turn. The screw pull also requires very little force to be applied, which makes the procedure less scary. You probably will like it.

I think there will always be an occasional uncorking disaster due to the cork failing, not because of a bad corkscrew or poor technique.

Jim

A rabbit. The good ones (meaning reliable) are expensive though.

DH used to laugh his butt off at me trying to open a wine bottle. He used to pour for a winery, so he makes it look so easy. He finally showed me how to use a two-prong wine puller. Apparently a lot of people hate them, but I must have "the knack" for them. I still prefer it over a waiter's corkscrew. They wear out fast, but they're cheap.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rabbit

I have a rabbit and love it....but for someone who doesn't open 2 or3 bottles of wine a week, I thinik the basic screwpull is best. Cheaper, takes less room to store and the rabbit has to have a bit of a knack to use it easily.
Granted that once you get the knack figured out it's just zip zap and the cork's out, but for a beginner, the screwpull is the best IMO.
My DH collected cork screws....I have lots and lots of all sorts....he likes the waiters basic cork puller. When we were out to eat, he would ask the sommelier if he could buy the cork screw!...most of the time they gave it to him, but he did have to buy a few.....so I have cork screws with all sorts of logos on them! He liked the waiters corkscrew, but I like that screwpull. It's easier for me to use. Also have several of the 2 pronged ones....but I find they take more strength to get the cork out.
Linda c

Now that you mention it, the rabbit is favored by my daughter. But then, she has pet rabbits, so....

The rabbit cork puller is very quick to operate though. I think the claim to fame of both rabbit and screw pull is that improved screw they have, which gets a more positive grip and doesn't bread the cork.

I once thought the two prong type was the cleverest and most elegant. Then I got a couple of bottles with extremely tight corks and the prongs twisted. What do you do when the cork won't pull out and neither will the cork puller?

Jim

Beverly, I have not tried a rabbit, so I cannot give you an opinion on it.

Here is the corkscrew I swear by. (And I do like my wine....LOL) Check around for the best price.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boomerang corkscrew

The rabbit cork puller is a big fave in general but wow, the price. I use the standard waitstaff wine key. I have lots of them as they are commonly used as branded freebies in wine marketing. This new hinged variation makes it even easier.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hinged wine key.

"Beverly, I have not tried a rabbit, so I cannot give you an opinion on it."

It's similar to chicken.

Jim

[Posted by jimster -----------
"Beverly, I have not tried a rabbit, so I cannot give you an opinion on it."
It's similar to chicken.
Jim]
LOL! Not frog's legs?

Screw cap wines and box wines are now acceptable fine wines.

dcarch

Although screw caps and bag-in-the-box packaging are both good ways to protect the quality of wine, it is still difficult to find better wines in either. Sauvignon Blanc is about all I see finished with a screw cap. But things are changing.

In the meantime, Beverly will need a wine opener for those pesky corks. I used to love the Ah So cork puller but it is miserable to try to use on alternative corks. Mine has been retired to the back of the drawer in favor of waitstaff wine keys which are small and portable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ah So

The Ah so is great for an old crumbling cork, that someone has tried to extract and failed.
What I like about the screwpull is you don't have to pull the cork at all....just keep turning the screw and the cork lifts out.
With the Rabbit you have to pull the cork as you do with a waiter's cork screw and the Ah so.
For anyone who has ever sat in a chair gripping the wine bottle between your knees and trying to pull out the cork.....the screwpull is the way to go.

Agreed, the Ah So does that well. I should have used it recently when I opened an old bottle of Cab. I have used a Screwpull, they are sleak. Rabbits seem so bulky and expensive for their purpose. Wine keys drop into my life frequently because of my work so I tend to reach for what's close. I like that they can be used with a minimum of arm flapping or knee clenching on my part. ;)

I bought elery a rabbit type corkscrew for Christmas, but it is bulky and harder to store than the little pull type corkscrews.

I seldom drink wine but Elery has a glass, sometimes two, nearly every night. We've broken more of those little corkscrews than I can count, both the "souvenir" types we got at wintery tours and the "grocery store types. We've even bent the corkscrew on my Swiss Army knife, which is always in the Jeep glovebox.

Anyway, the rabbit type is easy to use and I think it cost me $30 at Kohl's.

Annie

If you don't want to screw or pull, as I remember, there is one that uses a CO2 cartridge to propel the cork out.

The screw/extract (the one Linda C talks about) one has always worked for me without much effort, even after a few bottles .
:-).

dcarch

The one that uses CO2 cartridge doesn't usually work on synthetic corks. How do you know you are getting a synthetic cork in a bottole of wine?!

Another shout out for a Rabbit or Rabbit type. Available at Costco, Target (not great quality, but price is right, hasn't broken on us yet with multiple use) Amazon, World Market, etc. Easy, I don't know what Linda is talking about as far as being tricky.

The Co2r emover...pumps Co2 into the bottle....there is a needle that slips down beside the cork and you inject air below the cork to "ease" the cork out....but that sometimes hap[pens with a rather violent splash!
The Rabbit you have to remember which direction the handle should be in before you squeeze the bottle between the "ears"....
The first time I used one...I couldn't figure it out....gave up....the next time I had help....and now I am pretty good......but I still think the screwpull is easier....not faster....but takes less strength.

We bought Elery one of the CO2 types at Tuesday Morning. It worked exactly 6 times, then broke.

Annie

I always use the kind that looks like person with their arms down, then up. As you twist in the screw, the arms go up. You push the arms down and it lifts the cork out.

One tip from my son the bartender is to put the tip of the screw into the cork slightly off center. Most people aim for the direct center of the cork, which actually makes the screw go in off to the side, causing problems when you pull.

After some googling, I learned that my type of corkscrew is called "winged", although it looks like arms to me. Also the screw thingy is called a worm. Ick.

Here is a link that might be useful: types of corkscrews

Hey Beverly, I've tried a couple of times to email you and they come bouncing back. Do you have a new email?

Yes Woodie, sorry I've not got my addressess put in my new address book. Please email me at undertheelm@yahoo.com and I will send you my good email address.

Pam, that's one type I have a difficult time using. The cork always go to pieces into the wine.