I have a modest collection of corkscrews. In my opinion, the Vacu Vin Winemaster is the best corkscrew for most people. For example, I also have the Screwpull Elegance, which is the top-of-the-line lever model from the company that invented the Leverpull; but I reach much more frequently for the Winemaster.
Some advantages of the Winemaster, particularly in comparison with the Screwpull Elegance:
1. The Winemaster is easy to grab, and lightweight. The Elegance is somewhat cumbersome and the handles flop around unless you grab it just so.
2. The Winemaster includes an excellent foil cutter (very nearly as good as Screwpull's) that is easily removed and replaced from the unit with one hand. Removal of Screwpull's foil cutter from the Elegance stand is more cumbersome and requires both hands.
3. The Winemaster requires less strength. Once the Winemaster is pressed down with relatively little effort to grip the top of the bottle, the unit is secured and doesn't have to be continually held to the bottle with hand strength as is the case with the Elegance.
4. Both hands can therefore be used to push down upon the Winemaster's two levers. The pressure upon the bottle is symmetrical, and little strength is required. With the Elegance, a sticky cork will be too much for someone who does not have much hand and forearm strength.
5. The Winemaster has a small footprint on your shelf. The Elegance, while it comes with a stand in contrast to many leverpull-type corkscrews, occupies quite a large footprint.
Some pluses for the Elegance:
1. The Elegance is a bit more majestic-looking than the Winemaster. The Elegance (and its price) therefore make for a more impressive gift as long as the recipient has appropriate forearm and hand strength.
2. The Elegance is a little faster (a matter of seconds) than the Winemaster. This is only important if you are opening a large number of bottles at the same time.
3. The Elegance can open superflange bottles. The Winemaster can also open flange bottles but was not able to grip the one superflange bottle that I have tried to open. Therefore, I recommend that you also have a high-quality waiter's corkscrew, which will serve as a backup for the Winemaster; and you can use it on picnics or for traveling. Good waiter's corkscrews do not require much strength as long as you pull the cork straight out:
My personal favorite waiter's corkscrews are
1. Boomerang Waiter's Corkscrew- It has a large handle, a built-in foil cutter as good as the Winemaster's, a floating axis for the spiral hinge (this helps keep the cork straight, for proper ease of removal) and a high-quality spiral (but not Teflon coated). It is inexpensive.
2. Pulltap's Waiter's Corkscrew - It has a two-position arm, which is another way of helping to keep the cork straight as it is removed, and is available with a Teflon-coated spiral. It is compact and well made. It is inexpensive, with optional more expensive handle finishes (Pulltap's Premium Corkscrew); I like the Graphite.
3. Puigpull Waiter's Corkscrew - The Teflon-coated spiral is inserted in the ordinary way; but it is removed by an amazing car-jack type mechanism, as easy as the Winemaster! (It takes a couple of minutes to read the instructions, just as with the Winemaster.) It is very compact, well made and a conversation piece. It is available in a variety of handle finishes, all inexpensive; I like the Hammered Gray.
If any of these are not available from Amazon, you can check the web site of the importer, Franmara, which is the major importer for corkscrews to the USA and was still selling to individual consumers the last time I checked.
Therefore, for most people, I recommend the Winemaster as the best corkscrew.
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Vacu Vin WineMaster CorkscrewProduct Description: The VacuVin® WineMaster Corkscrew--Clear
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When I opened the box I was skeptical of this corkscrew due to its light weight. But I was most pleasantly surprised when I tried it out. So simple to operate, takes minimal effort and the cork just slides out. I have gone through a lot of corkscrews and this is the easiest one to use I have tried.
I love these can coolers.They work just like advertised.They keep soda pop cold for several hours.They often make my drink so cold that it becomes slushy.For me that is a good thing!I would definately recommend that you buy these.
Those little stoppers work like a charm.They are simple to use and do a great job of preserving wine.Okay, so maybe they don't preserve wine for quite as long as advertised, but they do a great job for 5-7 days.Hey, if you don't down a single bottle of wine in a week, you should probably switch to a different beverage.I give this little product an A+.
The main goal in keeping wine "leftovers" is to prevent the wine from aging between the time you open the bottle and when you finish the remaining wine. Air destroys wine, so you need to minimize the air contacat. You also have to keep the wine in the fridge during this time, because 55F is a 'normal aging temperature' and since the air is already aging the wine, you want to minimize *any* other degrading that might go on. Any temperature over 55F will simply make things worse.
This product works well for keeping an already chilled bottle cool at the table.Ours won't chill a bottle of white wine from room temperature to drinking temperature.It would probably work well for bringing a bottle of room temperature red wine down to cellar temperature.Our only freezer is the one in our refrigerator.It would probably work better if frozen in a chest type freezer kept at a lower temperature.
I have been using my Concerto for several months now, and I am a raving fan! I drink wine frequently, but seldom finish a bottle in one evening. The Concerto is so easy to use to "vacuum-pack" your leftover wine for storage in the fridge. The unit makes a little chirping noise when the vacuum is reached, so it's foolproof to use. Wine stays fresher longer, and I am a happy enophile! This set also includes a crystal wine server, which is great for stopping drips!For the price, this is a fabulous gift (for you or someone else!).
While I've found the above mentioned 5 minutes to chill from room temperature down for drinking a bit optimistic (15 minutes is more accurate, if you also put the bottle with chiller in the freezer); thereare few other viable ways of cooling a bottle down quickly that are thiseffortless. Slide the sleeve on (stick in freezer or not), wait, cork, anddrink.
We live in a warm climate, and this cooler is perfect for keeping pre-chilled whites nice and cool all through dinner when we dine outside. Since our "room temperature" is about 78, it is also perfect for bringing reds down to the 72 they are supposed to be before drinking. Another reviewer complained it didn't work on a second bottle of wine, but since this product works by dropping a frozen vacu-vin chill sleeve into the cooler then screwing the bottom back on, it is also easy to buy more vacu-vin chill sleeves for 9.99 to swap out for the second bottle of wine. No, it won't bring a warm bottle of white to a chill, but for some purposes, this cooler is perfect. (A vacu-vin chill sleeve works just as well, but doesn't look as nice on the dinner table, and it gets a lot of condensation drips, too.)
There are few other viable ways of cooling a bottle down quickly that are this effortless. Slide the sleeve on (stick in freezer or not), wait, cork, and drink.
It looks nice, it pours nice and evenly and it did not drip. Weeven put it to the test trying to make it drip, not 1 drop.
The wine saver is great in so many ways. Obviously it's wonderful to be able to open a bottle of wine and have it stay good for a day or two, especially if you just like one glass with dinner. This lets you open up and enjoy more expensive wine since you won't waste the whole rest of the bottle. If you are interested in learning about wines, you'll probably want to open up 2 or more wines at a time to compare them, and this way you won't waste anything. The wine saver will keep the undrunk portion until the next time.I do recommend putting the bottle in the fridge if you don't drink it the next day. Just pull the bottle out an hour before you want to drink it if it's red.
When shopping for these replacement corks, I was trying to find a review to confirm that the new style corks work with the old style pump.I took the chance that they would, and happily found that the new design corks work with old design pump.
Without the VacuVin a bottle of wine presentings a daunting undertaking - are we ready to drink 4-5 glass of wine right now? The VacuVin eliminates this problem by allowing you to remove the air from the bottle after youhave opened it, which slows the oxidation which turns the wine sour.
This stainless version of the popular winesaver includes two non-drip pouring spouts. The stainless look is perhaps worth a few dollars more than the cost of the plastic models.
