Ah-so opener. What am I doing wrong?

[Joe Chan]

After a couple of bad experience of crumbling corks, I decided to give the Ah-so opener a try. I started practicing on some run of the mill young bottles of red. It seems no matter what I do, the prongs will dig into the sides of the cork, and leave behind small bits of cork in the wine. I thought one of the advantage of Ah-so is to be able to pull the cork out intact. Now I'm nervous about using it to open old port bottles. Am I doing it wrong? Or is the opener I got just crap (it's a $6 one from Amazon)? From the look of it, either the prongs are too thick, or the curvature of the prongs are too much to match the curvature of the cork, so the edges always dig into the cork.

[Eric Menchen]

Where is Peter when you need him?

[Peter W. Meek]

Where is Peter when you need him?

Where else but here? (Did you think that just because I wasn't posting every hour, that you could escape my eagle-eye? Ah-so!)

Here is the post where I describe a method of modification for your Ah-So to avoid (or at least reduce) the problem you describe:

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... =20#p51196

My offer still stands: if you want to send your Ah-So to me, I will happily modify it and send it back to you. PM me for an address.

[Roy Hersh]

You can find the German manufactured brand, Monopole, which makes by far the best version of Ah-So on the market.

Then again, if you don't have an issue paying $125 for the ultimate wine cork extractor ... then the Durand is by far and away the best device ever produced for getting corks out in one piece. I've spoken to the manufacturer and he is now going to design a Durand especially for Port lovers which an extra long worm and the width will be slightly modified as well to help with the most outrageous Port corks ever found. It is being made as we speak.

[Peter W. Meek]

You can find the German manufactured brand, Monopole, which makes by far the best version of Ah-So on the market.

Then again, if you don't have an issue paying $125 for the ultimate wine cork extractor ... then the Durand is by far and away the best device ever produced for getting corks out in one piece. I've spoken to the manufacturer and he is now going to design a Durand especially for Port lovers which an extra long worm and the width will be slightly modified as well to help with the most outrageous Port corks ever found. It is being made as we speak.

Ah-so; but will he sharpen the side tines? We port lovers like to see the cork relatively undamaged, and the Durand suffers from the same defect (blunt tines) as the knock-offs AND the original Monopole (which DOES have thinner tines made from a good spring steel, but still a bit blunt).

I do like my Durand, but it does cut channels down the sides of the cork.

[Eric Menchen]

I do like my Durand, but it does cut channels down the sides of the cork.

Can't you sharpen the Duran tines too?

[Joe Chan]

$125 for an opener? That's a lot of cheese cloth I can use to get out the bits of cork. Good to know that I'm not alone with this problem. The Monopol is around $25. Is it really that much better than my $6 model? I do notice that it is cheaply made, so at least I won't feel bad if I file it down to nothing this weekend.

[Roy Hersh]

Yes, the Monopole is the best Ah-So on the market and the tensile strength is significant compared to the cheap knock offs.

[Peter W. Meek]

I do like my Durand, but it does cut channels down the sides of the cork.

Can't you sharpen the Duran tines too?

Well, it's one thing to hack away at a cheap knock-off; quite another to take the tools to a $125 premium Durand.

Now, if I get a special-edition PORT-Durand, maybe I will think about modifying all the bits and pieces of the two (count them, 2!!!) Durands so that I can put together a device that will open ANYTHING. MUAH-HA-Ha-ha-ha...

(Sorry; it's getting late.)

[Tom Archer]

These openers work quite well with claret, but less so with port..

..useful as a standby if a you're opening a relatively young bottle, and the screw begins to tear the centre of the cork out; but otherwise, avoid use...

Tom

[Joe Chan]

So what do you all use to open these old bottles of port? The last bottle I opened didn't even survive the first pull of the cork screw. It just sort of disintegrated.

[Glenn E.]

So what do you all use to open these old bottles of port? The last bottle I opened didn't even survive the first pull of the cork screw. It just sort of disintegrated.

A fine mesh filter.

I pull out the part that will pull, then either push the rest into the bottle or make a second attempt to pull it out also. Either way there's going to be rubble in the Port, so I carefully decant it through a fine mesh filter which removes the cork and any large particles of sediment that escape. I usually stop with a couple of ounces left in the bottle anyway to avoid as much of the sediment as possible, and then pour that into a glass to settle and taste.

[Tom Archer]

So what do you all use to open these old bottles of port? The last bottle I opened didn't even survive the first pull of the cork screw. It just sort of disintegrated.

They often do..

..so discover the joys of the humble Chinese chopstick..!

..use the blunt end to carefully push the cork into the bottle, then use the pointed end to stop the cork obstructing the flow as you decant..

You can then attempt the plastic bag method to extract the cork from the empty bottle, or wrap the bottle in newspaper and deploy a ball pane hammer to liberate the cork (carefully..)

Tom

[Roy Hersh]

There are also inexpensive cork pullers that go all the way into the bottle, close around the broken chunk of cork and then can be removed safely without using any hammer or breaking glass etc. It takes 10 seconds and is far easier than the plastic bag or napkin "trick" that some use. Although the cloth napking works well too once the bottle is empty. Up to you.

[Andy Velebil]

So what do you all use to open these old bottles of port? The last bottle I opened didn't even survive the first pull of the cork screw. It just sort of disintegrated.

Darn good question and really there are several answers.

Very old Port: Ah-So or the Durand (thanks Roy, works great!)

Very old Port #2: where I don't want to keep the bottle, but want to read the printing on the cork: Push cork into bottle, either use plastic bag trick or hammer to break bottle and retrieve cork

Don't care about cork, but not too old: Ah-so

Young Ports/Douro wines: Regular waiter's cork screw

Want to impress guests or just really bored and want to see fire: Port Tongs

[Tom Archer]

There are also inexpensive cork pullers that go all the way into the bottle, close around the broken chunk of cork and then can be removed safely without using any hammer or breaking glass etc

I once bought a device that claimed to do this, and found it utterly useless - can you suggest a brand name that works?

Tom

[Roy Hersh]

Tom,

Unfortunately there's no name on this device. When you know I am coming to the UK, I'll be happy to buy one for you as a gift ... as long as you'll remind me!

[Tom Archer]

Thanks Roy!

[Roy Hersh]

Tom,

I just found an identical cork extractor in a drawer which is branded CORK LIFT. If you can't find it, I' m happy to bring you a new one.

[Todd Pettinger]

Shocked to see that it took 15 posts for someone to suggest port tongs... where the hell was Moses on this one?!?!

Port tongs are my new favorite... and my old favorite, although the first pair I had were not quality and did not work well.. Since Moses and Sean introduced me to fire in Boston a few years ago, I have been in love!