Electric Wine Bottle Opener

[Andy M.]

I gave this to my SO for Christmas to make her life a little easier. I bought it at Costco for $15. Frankly, I was not sure how good it would be but thought I'd give it a try. I knew she would like it if it worked as advertised.

I had no idea it would work as well as it did. This thing is great. It's recchargeable and comes with a foil cutter. It will do 40 bottles on one charge.

You remove the foil, place the opener over the top of the bottle and press and hold the "Open" button. The opener screws the internal corkscrew into the cork and pulls it out, stopping when done. Then you press the other button and the cork unscrews from the corkscrew and drops into your hand!

 

[VeraBlue]

Lou and I had some jet powered bottle opener for a while. It had a sharp needle that you pierced the cork with. There was an air jet like the kind in a soda water dispenser that shot air into the bottle to dislodge the cork. It would pop out in about 2 seconds. It was easy as pie...but that kind of air blast disturbs the balance in the bottle.

Not sure if this is the same thing...but you might want to think about what it does to the wine, if it is.

 

[Half Baked]

CJS (Jean) received one of those for Christmas and couldn't say enough good things about it.

Sounds like if I had one of those, I could open wine bottles until I was 120 yo. Heck with arthritis, failing bone density and dementia....just hope I could remember where I had put it.

 

[Buck]

Andy,
I checked out the web site and loved the selling points. Finally someone has come up with a solution to that age-old vexing problem of not being able to spend enough time with my guests. It seems that every time I host a party I get stuck in the kitchen opening wine bottles ALL NIGHT LONG! I never get to spend any time mingling with my good friends who are all having a great time consuming my wine. I hate it when that happens. Thanks for saving my social life.
Happy New Year!
Buck

 

[Andy M.]

Buck:

Either you're very slow at opening wine bottles or your friends drink a lot of wine!!!

 

[auntdot]

Don't open that many wine bottles but am always vexed by the cork that wants to stubbornly stay in the bottle.

Yep I store them on their side, but it still happens every so often.

Have had, and still do in 'the drawer', many wine bottle openers but none of them works every time.

Have you had the same experience with the electric gizmo? Or does it seem to work better than the others?

Nothing I hate worse than having to set the doggone bottle on the floor, hold it down with one hand, and try to King Kong the sucker out with the other.

And then of course there is the cork that likes to break into little pieces while it is still in the bottle.

For some reason these episodes happen most frequently when we are in a hotel room and are trying to relax with a very recently purchased bottle.

If there is something that really works would consider it as much of an advance as the transistor or TurboTax (have spent so many hours doing, and redoing, my taxes by hand that I am thrilled to shell out the wampum for the program each year). But am getting off topic.

I guess what I am asking, badly stated, is this just a tool that will make pulling a cooperative cork quicker, which I really don't need, or does it help with those bottles that really don't want anyone to drink them and hold onto their corks for all they are worth?

Thanks and take care.

 

[Candocook]

I am amazed that it works so well--and glad for you. I would have been hugely skeptical--and may look for it for a dear friend with RA.
One thing I will mention from our experience with the Rabbit. We have had to replace the "screw" over time, and it might be the same with this. The screw is apparently teflon coated and after so many corks, it wear off and doesn't go in smoothly.
Does this work well on the artificial corks also?

 

[Andy M.]

Aunt Dot:

I have encountered those recalcitrant corks form time to time and probably spoke some of the same words while trying to open them.

I cannot say if this tool would help with those corks as I haven't tried it on them. It does seem to have some reserve power but I don't know if it's enough to make a difference.

SO likes the "wing" type corkscrew where you screw in then push down on the wings. I use a Sommelier's tool (I think) which is like a jack knife for wine bottles. There's a foil cutter on one side and you pull the screw out of the other, screw it in and use a little lever doodad to grab the edge of the bottle and pull up on the handle to open.

Candocook:

The instruction manual mentions that it can struggle with some artificial corks. I have used it on one with no problem. The issue is that the artificial corks are denser so getting the screw in and out is the issue.

Good point about the screw eventually needing replacement. You're probably right.

 

[Quadlex]

I found a couple of the electric cork removers make irritating grinding noises when working. If you're opening a bottle at the table, this might be something to be mindful of.

I have a corkscrew that I love. It's similar to a wing style in that is has a jacket that goes over/on the neck of the bottle. You screw it down, and when it gets to the bottom a nut at the top locks into place. Continuing to screw brings the cork back up and out of the bottle.

I've never had issues with a cork or bottle with it, it's fantastic.

 

[Andy M.]

I bought the electric one for my SO as she has limited mobility and strength on one arm so she has difficulty with corks.

She is really happy with this one and keeps telling me it's the best $15 gift she ever received.