Cork Removal Assistance

WINE TALK
1

I just had an e-mail from my brother. He loves Chardonnay almost exclusively to other wines and I do most of the wine buying for him. He just informed me that he has been unable to remove the cork from 3 consecutive bottles of 2007 Landmark Overlook Chardonnay.
Here is his e-mail:
Frank:

Just a quick question. I tried to open three different bottles of the Landmark Chardonnay and I could not get the cork out of any of them. Do you know what could cause this to happen? The corkscrew just goes through the cork but is not able to hold the cord to pull it out. Any suggestions you could give would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Tom

I told him a Two-prong cork remover might work but I was wondering what would cause this with three different bottles. He has opened thousands of bottles (I believe he uses the “Rabbit” type opener) so I know he knows what he is doing.

Any thoughts?

2

I’ve heard of many people having issues like this with the “rabbit” openers. I myself have never experienced it, but I can imagine that if a dull corkscrew is on the unit and it is not attached properly to the bottle the force will just push the cork in.

3

Is it a screwtop enclosure? [oops.gif]

4

Port tongs!

5

I’ve seen worms, in Screwpull and Rabbit lever types, get stretched and behave that way. Suggest to him to replace the screw.