In general, corkscrews aren’t the greatest of tools. Yes, they are the best way to open a bottle of wine, but they’re often either challenging to use, over-engineered, or prohibitively expensive.
On one hand, there’s the classic Waiter’s Corkscrew (also known as the Waiter’s Friend), which is a pretty good tool. But it usually requires a certain amount of skill and application of a fair bit of pressure while balancing part of the corkscrew on the thin glass lip of the bottle.
If you’re going to use a Waiter’s Corkscrew, I recommend a really cool one, like the Legless Pirate Corkscrew.
Most Waiter’s Friends come with a churchkey, so it easily opens beer (and soda) bottles, too. Bonus!
And then there’s the Wingman — at least that’s what I called it when I was a kid, but it’s also known as the Butterfly. This thing works okay, but it’s pretty clunky, perches precariously on the top of the bottle while you turn the screw in, and is overall just cumbersome.
Serious wine aficionados seem to like the Twin Prong Puller, which consists of two pieces of flexible metal attached to a wide handle and it doesn’t look like it can open anything.
It’s also commonly called the Ah-So Wine Opener because (according to Wikipedia) when you find out how it works, you say, “Ah, so that’s how it works.” I can confirm that’s pretty much what I said when I was shown how to operate one. It’s good in a pinch — if you know how to use it. Even then, getting the cork out without chunks falling into the wine isn’t always a sure thing.
A great solution for when you want to show off that you actually know how to use this thing.
Of course we can’t forget the Rabbit Ears Wine Opener, the Table-Top Wine Opener, and the ultimate in wine-opening laziness, the Electric Wine Opener — all of which are super-slick but expensive and even bulkier than the Wingman.
Just look at this thing … what are you doing? Surgery?
And let’s not talk about the standard twist-and-pull corkscrew. No one likes using that thing, not really.
This is never a good idea.
However, by complete contrast to all of those options is the Quirky Verseur, by far the easiest, fastest, and best corkscrew I’ve ever used.
Simply slide the flared plastic tube of this odd-looking device over the top of the bottle, squeeze gently to hold it in place, insert the corkscrew until the tip pierces the cork, and and start turning clockwise. The cork comes out without much effort. No pulling, no prying, nothing but a clean, extracted cork 100% of the time.
But it’s not just one tool — it’s four tools rolled into one. In addition to being the best corkscrew, there’s a recessed foil cutter in the handle to help you swiftly get to the cork (it takes a few times to get the hang of using this), a pouring spout for drip-less wine delivery, and a minimalist stopper to keep the wine you don’t drink fresh. Everything fits together in one piece for easy storing. It’s a wine-opening multi-tool.
