Wine Openers

A waiter’s friend is what restaurants use. It folds into a pocket, has the foil blade built in, and costs under $12 — but it asks real leverage from your wrist, and a double-hinge version is worth the extra couple of dollars because it brings the cork out in two easy stages instead of one hard pull.

A winged corkscrew is the familiar kitchen-drawer one. Easy to understand, but it drives a wide screw straight through the middle of the cork, which is why it is the worst of the four on anything old or dry.

An electric opener removes the effort and costs $30–60. It also needs charging, and it is still a screw going into a cork.

An air-pressure opener does something different: a hollow needle passes through the cork, a small amount of food-safe inert gas goes in underneath, and the cork lifts out whole. There is no screw, no leverage and nothing pulling on the cork — which is most of the reason why corks break. Cork Pops invented this in 1961 and patented it in 1964; read the invention if you want the full account.

Which one to buy

• You open a bottle most nights — the Legacy at $34.50, or the Starter Set at $45 with cartridges included.
• Your hands hurt — air pressure, every time. No twisting and no leverage. See openers for arthritis and limited hand strength.
• You collect older bottles — air pressure for the same reason, plus a two-prong ah-so for anything genuinely fragile.
• You want one for a bag or a picnic — a folding waiter’s friend, $5.90 to $11.
• It is a gift — the Starter Set. An opener given without cartridges stops working after 60 to 80 bottles.

Everything here is made or specified by the family in Novato, California that invented the air-pressure opener. More detail in the guide to wine openers and how air-pressure openers work.