Either I'm getting older, weaker or they are making the corks in wine bottles a lot tighter making it a bitch to remove.

I've seen electric corkscrews. I think wines are being corked tighter as part of changes in automation.

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Soli Deo Gloria

I'll Google electric corkscrews but I hope I don't get a bunch of weard sites.

We have an electric but I tend to use my old screw type with the cam/thread that reverses the screw & backs the cork out as you tighten it. Many vinters are going to plastic corks or screw-tops because cork carries a mold that taints the wine. Seems that the composite corks are easier to remove than traditionsl corks. Well, that is for when company comes - otherwise just gimme my bottle of Ripple or MD 20-20 & I'll be happy (no cork to worry about on these classics!)

John

Try the corkscrews with two handles. Screw the thing into the cork, and the handles rise. Pull down on the handles to extract the cork.

It's got far better leverage than using a Swiss Army knife corkscrew or the larger one on some high grade German folding hunting knives. But the Puma Model 943 includes a good one that usually works, if you forget a corkscrew on a picnic.

Some stores stock bottles upright, to save space. That lets the corks dry out and become flaky and harder to extract. You may also get crumbled bits of cork in the wine. I'd hate that in a fine Chateau Latour...

As long as they don't start corking beer bottles i'm fine.


chuck

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They hold no Quarter

I'm surprised that the obvious hasn't come up. Just drink wine with screw caps-or that comes on boxes. Sheesh!!!!!!!!! That white wine from Franzia ain't half bad after you get through the first tumbler.

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Forum consigliere

That's funny!

That's hilarious!!

Well, funny you should say that because when we go camping I always buy the "Black Box" so I don't have any concerns about being sober enough to open a tight bottle of wine.

I have found that some of the wines have a non-wood product cork, they prove to be a little difficult but have the added advantage of never coming apart also making a recorking to keep the bees out a breeze.
My wife sent me to the store once to buy her a box of Chablis, I'm not much of a wine drinker so I bought her a box of 4 gallon jugs. I lugged the box in and set it down on the counter, she said "What in the hell is that?" I told her you asked for a box of Chablis, there you go. She walked out to the garbage can and came in with one of the little I gallon boxes with wine inside..."This is a box of wine." She still gets laughs over that one....

I found this little hinged cork screw and it is great. Cork is hard to come by these days, so they use this plastic type stuff.

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Go big or stay home

I have used a compressed air wine cork puller for the last 6 years. You simply push the needle through the cork, hit the top of the air cartridge and a small burst of air raises the cork right out of the bottle. Works beautifully every time and the cartridges seem to last forever. I think the whole gizmo was around 15 bucks or so.

They do however warn you against using this devise on bottles that are not round (like square ones). Apparently the non round bottles are not as strong and could crack at the sharp edge corners.

I've yet to have a problem with a cork in any of the boxed wines.

Stick to the connoiseur's brands as I do you too will avoid troublesome corks

You will not have to worry about it in the next few years, Wine companies are making the shift to screw caps and plastic (really) even the French. Not only is cork expensive but they have found that the other means of capping actually preserve the wine better. The "boxed" wine with internal bladder actually keeps wine very well. I still store my Boonesfarm with the neck down at an angle. To think it all started with that first chug of Strawberry Hill.

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Still Running Against the Wind

you are correct sir!

Better not check out any of that high dollar Belgian Trappist Ale. Corked, along with some other specialty type stuff. I would just as soon drink Shiner, Bock or Blonde!

Rabbit corkscrews aren't bad

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There are alternatives to pulling the cork:

Thor Method - drive the cork in with a hammer and punch
Desperate Method - bust the top off
****** Method - suck the cork out
Walmart Method - box wine........

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Even older, even crankier....

Push the cork into the bottle. Don't worry about recorking, just drink it all. Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

If you are afraid to show your box wine to the guests-just do what I do-decant it into that old glass Budweiser pitcher you stole from the bar years ago. Mom used to get so mad when she would find them in the sink

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Forum consigliere

The thought of wine in a box repels me. I just can't imagine someone liking it or comparing it to more serious wines.

During the Paris peace talks which led to the end of the War of 1812, Chateau Haut-Brion was served as the main red wine, to the pleasure of both sides and their French hosts. It is said to have contributed substantially to congeniality.

Can you see box wine being used in such a role? We might still be fighting the British!

Evan Williams doesn't have a cork.

We have ourselves a winner!!!!!!!!!!

I have noticed that boxed wine doesn't roll down the hill when you fall down......