did vic change the corkscrew?

I have grooved & ungrooved corkscrews on mine. I think the grooved gives an added purchase on the cork..imho. I don't know about the Euro corks but have damaged mine on American wine. I went over to a dedicated Wine corkscrew. The corkscrew is mainly ineffective as well as obsolete for me IMO.
 
You have to be carefull and feel the cork as they are all different. New corks are easy to pull out, but if you use too much force and speed on older ones, it can rip the cork to pieces. Best you can do is to try to get it in as far as you can and then very gently ease out the cork maybe using some rotation of the cork at the same time (to overcome the friction). I do not think that the grooves help much (I have them) it's more risky to break the old and fragile corks with too much power.
 
My dedicated wine bottle opener broke about a year ago. Since then, I've kept a Vic Climber in the cabinet and I've used it to open dozens of bottles of both American and imported wine, real cork and synthetic, with no problems.

I've used the older grooved and the newer plain corkscrews and can't tell the difference. Both work well.
 
My problem is that some corks are very tight and SAK type opener doesn't give much leverage, unlike the dedicaked opener (other brand) tha has hook to engage the bottle lip and cork can be lifted with the prying move like using the bottle opener. Now, how the Vic's wine opener (non SAKs) works? After screw goes in, just pull up?
 
For years the only corkscrew I used was the one on my Mauser, purchased in around 1982. Around a year ago, a fancy corkscrew I'd bought broke, and I returned to the Mauser. Unfortunately the new silicone corks seem to be tougher as I've bent it slightly, which means it won't quite close properly now.
 
Chris "Anagarika";5199031 said:
My problem is that some corks are very tight and SAK type opener doesn't give much leverage, unlike the dedicaked opener (other brand) tha has hook to engage the bottle lip and cork can be lifted with the prying move like using the bottle opener. Now, how the Vic's wine opener (non SAKs) works? After screw goes in, just pull up?
Click to expand...

A dedicated corkscrew is better, but it seems that fairly often, the only one available has been on my SAK. Formerly I struggled with pulling out the cork, sometimes unsuccessfully. Thanks to a helpful post on these forums, I learned a better way. What I do now is twist down until the SAK almost touches the bottle lip, then lever it to break the cork's adhesion. Pulling it out becomes much easier, and it has worked every time.
 
znapschatz said:
...Thanks to a helpful post on these forums, I learned a better way. What I do now is twist down until the SAK almost touches the bottle lip, then lever it to break the cork's adhesion. Pulling it out becomes much easier, and it has worked every time.
Click to expand...
It's best to have an awl next to the corkscrew to take some of the pressure which otherwise might damage the liner. Once you've broken the seal between the cork and the bottle (step 2) it's usually easy to pull the cork out the rest of the way (step 3). The new synthetic corks are especially easy to pull this way.
 

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All,

Thanks for the tip and great diagram! I can do it from now using SAK.

My question is related to a dedicated corkscrew made by Vic. It has only screw and seal cutter, shape overall is like a mushroom. Is it better in term of leverage? I can't see how it can be used to 'lever'
 
Chris "Anagarika";5201883 said:
.....My question is related to a dedicated corkscrew made by Vic. It has only screw and seal cutter, shape overall is like a mushroom. Is it better in term of leverage? I can't see how it can be used to 'lever'
Click to expand...
That one looks like you just screw it in and pull. Victorinox also makes a regular lever type, which is actually a little cheaper I think. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-...r_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1199469305&sr=8-5

In a few years we'll probably see only screwcaps, as good quality Portuguese cork is getting scarce, and people seem not to like synthetic corks. Screwcaps are okay, but they make me think of the line in the Muppet Movie where the snobby waiter (Steve Martin) sarcastically asks Kermit if he wants to sniff the bottle cap.

Richard
 
Richard,

Thanks again! I guess so then. Now the lever against awl works for me, so I just leave it there .. ;)

I do dislike synthetic, but that's perhaps only legacy of older tradition dies hard. Can't they plant the tree? If it's scarce, it'll command good price .. Also can't imagine screwcap for wine? It remove the unique experience of wine event.
 
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