Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I have lost my sommelier corkscrew wine opener that I received as a gift from a wine retailer. I loved it very much, and am looking for an authentic one.

1. I was wondering where can I buy an authentic Pullman/Pulltex corkscrew. Seems like there are lot of imitations out there, and when I got one from Amazon, it obviously was a fake and did not work the way my old one used to work.

2. Also, any recommendations for a wine opener that work wells for older bottles with crumbly corks?

Am planning to purchase 2 corkscrews.

Jim, I am still waiting on the info about the wine decanter that broke. Looks like it is easy to clean and am looking for a similar one...

Thanks

Regarding your 2nd question, I would go with the Durand.

https://thedurand.com

This is a must have wine opener!! But pretty neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcqVwMvGQtU

I would second the Durand. The screw holds the cork togethers, whilst the prongs actually extract it. Works nearly every time.

The Durand is far and away the best opener for old and crumbly or spongy corks that I have ever used.

I find the Laguiole Sommelier series to be a great balance between form and function.

Carlos Delpin wrote:I find the Laguiole Sommelier series to be a great balance between form and function.

and are also the most aesthetically pleasing.

This is what I use:


The outer threaded sleeve lifts the cork very gradually.
I'm really pleased with how it works, but I haven't used it on an old bottle yet.

It's crazy how expensive Durands are versus Monopol's. They are like 6x the cost.

You can achieve the same result with a Monopol Ah-So plus the screw from a Screwpull with a little effort to get the alignment right. And at much lower cost.

I agree that the Laguiole Sommeliers are beautiful and efficient. But they aren't as good at preserving a badly decomposed cork as a Durand or Ah-So/Screwpull combination.

Ah So hasn't failed me yet, and at 10-15% of the cost of the Durand. I'm not sure the screw is needed on the latter; if the cork is that fragile the centre will chew up, which is exactly what you're trying to prevent.

Phil,

The point of the corkscrew worm is to keep the ah so from pushing the cork into the bottle, which has happened many times to me. You just use the worm to stabilize the cork while you deploy the ah so.

CV, what was your question about the decanter that broke?
It was a decanter that Houndsong and his lovely wife Kathy gave me when they stayed at my house a few years back.
It was my favorite decanter and I was devastated.
They got it in Colorado. I'm sure we can get you the website.

JimHow wrote:CV, what was your question about the decanter that broke?
It was a decanter that Houndsong and his lovely wife Kathy gave me when they stayed at my house a few years back.
It was my favorite decanter and I was devastated.
They got it in Colorado.

Yep. That's the one. Do you know what make it was? Where one can find? Am trying to look for such one as it seems easy to clean...

Let me look into it.
Hound and Kathy left me a business card of the place in Colorado where they got it, let me see if I can find it.
Of course, the Hound could probably tell us off the top of his head.

+1 on the Durand.
Worth every penny.

For simple, young bottles, I use a Rabbit and have few issues. Only problem is when a I have middle aged bottles and go for a simple corkscrew instead of the Durand out of laziness.

Just get a Durand.

Jim, the guy is Brice Turnbull (sounds like an early 70's British prog-rock band). http://www.btglass.com. He made I think three for me they were strictly one-offs.

Related to the Turnbull who makes a well regarded Napa cab?

AKR wrote:Related to the Turnbull who makes a well regarded Napa cab?

At what price point?