Is one ah-so opener better than the next?

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

@TimF

There’s no reason you can’t screw in at an angle since the two pieces operate independently. It sounds like they were doing it wrong. Durand is the only opener I’ve never had an issue with. YMMV

Of course you can use the two pieces independently - but then it’s it’s just the same as an ah-so and the worm of a screwpull, which is what I’m saying in the first place. Since using the two parts of the Durand together is no better than using two separate items together, in my opinion, and you sometimes have to use them separately, I see no reason to spend the money on it unless you want something that seems more cool and comes in a neat little box.

I realize I’m mostly preaching to the choir here and everyone else loves their Durand. People are entirely welcome to prefer it! I am simply putting it out there that you can get basically the same performance without the expenditure.

[Brian_Tuite]

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Or just use a screwpull and a reasonable ah-so together, and feel smug about getting the same or better performance without spending the price of dinner. You can even call it a Durand if it makes you feel good, since AFAIK it isn’t patented.

I call BS. The worm on the screw pull is not long enough to go all the way through the cork, older corks break just below it even when you add an ah so. The screw on the Durand screws all the way through the cork so when you attach the ah so it will leave no cork behind when pulling it out . Plus the screw on the Durand is thinner material and screws into a cork like a knife through butter. Much appreciated an old wine soaked cork. There’s no comparison .

[Ken_Strauss]

@Brian Tuite

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Or just use a screwpull and a reasonable ah-so together, and feel smug about getting the same or better performance without spending the price of dinner. You can even call it a Durand if it makes you feel good, since AFAIK it isn’t patented.

I call BS. The worm on the screw pull is not long enough to go all the way through the cork, older corks break just below it even when you add an ah so. The screw on the Durand screws all the way through the cork so when you attach the ah so it will leave no cork behind when pulling it out . Plus the screw on the Durand is thinner material and screws into a cork like a knife through butter. Much appreciated an old wine soaked cork. There’s no comparison .

I agree the durand is world class. I carry it everywhere I bring wine and it has saved me many bottles.

The only reason not to get one is the price.

Btw it is patented.

[Michel_Linden]

@Michael S. Monie

Yes. It’s called The Durand.

plus 1
in Australia Jeremy Holmes @ Dor to Door has them

[bryan_c]

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Or just use a screwpull and a reasonable ah-so together, and feel smug about getting the same or better performance without spending the price of dinner. You can even call it a Durand if it makes you feel good, since AFAIK it isn’t patented.

Not to pile on here, but wonder if you have advice on making this work better. I have a Durand but didn’t have it on me this weekend when I had to open an older bottle. I did have access to a screwpull and ahso so I decided to give it a shot.

Initially I used the ahso, but the cork would get pushed in a bit so I decided to try the makeshift Durand. However, the biggest problem I had was that the screwpull had too much of a gap after where the worm ends. The gap made it so that the ahso couldn’t completely slide down the cork all the way. This resulted in the bottom 1/3rd of the cork stuck in the bottle with the top 2/3rd of the cork coming out. Maybe I need to find an ahso with longer prongs but I don’t think they make them that long.

[Ethan_H]

My chief complaint about my Durand is that the prongs of the ah-so part shred the two sides of the cork that it grasps. Yeah, I know we drink the wine, not the label or the corks for that matter, but I like to save corks from special bottles, and since opening a 40+ y.o. botle is not an everyday occurrence for me, most of them would qualify as keepers were it not for the deep scarring down two sides of the cork that often obliterates any meaningful text on the cork. Is this inevitable with any use of an ah-so type device on old corks?

[Gary_Rust]

Yes – Al Ah-So’s scrape off the sides of the cork.

[Scott_Jameson]

@Brian Tuite

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Or just use a screwpull and a reasonable ah-so together, and feel smug about getting the same or better performance without spending the price of dinner. You can even call it a Durand if it makes you feel good, since AFAIK it isn’t patented.

I call BS. The worm on the screw pull is not long enough to go all the way through the cork, older corks break just below it even when you add an ah so. The screw on the Durand screws all the way through the cork so when you attach the ah so it will leave no cork behind when pulling it out . Plus the screw on the Durand is thinner material and screws into a cork like a knife through butter. Much appreciated an old wine soaked cork. There’s no comparison .

And I call BS back at you. The worm on my ScrewPull is 5 inches long and I’ve yet to see a cork close to that in length. I’ve used it in conjunction with an ah-so numerous times and have always been able to extract the cork. I don’t doubt that a Durand would work equally as well, but I’d rather spend the $100+ on wine.

[TomHill]

@Sean Devaney

@TomHill

@Henry Kiichli

Monopol
https://www.amazon.com/Monopol-Two-prong-Superfine-Polished-Finished/dp/B00154JJMK

Ditto…I’m w/ Henry on this one. This Monopol model is the one to buy rather than cheaper models.
The cheaper models have thicker blades that can sometime push the cork into the btl on older
wines. The Monopol is made w/ high-quality hi-tensile maraging steel that is thinner but holds up well.
Occasionally, I’ll get a cork that is so firmly stuck in the neck that you can twist the Ah-So out of
alingment and warp it. So if I notice this happening, I back off and don’t force it.
I’ve no experience w/ the Durand.
As with buying new epee blades, you don’t want to skimp on getting quality steel.
Tom

This. I have or had three Monopols (gifted one to my BIL) and they work great. Once in a while the cork will push
into the bottle but I use an original Screwpull to rescue the cork. My Ah-So are all branded made in “West Germany” so they also hold up well

Yup…it’s that precision German engineering that Volkswagen uses!!
Tom

[bryan_c]

@Scott Jameson

@Brian Tuite

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Or just use a screwpull and a reasonable ah-so together, and feel smug about getting the same or better performance without spending the price of dinner. You can even call it a Durand if it makes you feel good, since AFAIK it isn’t patented.

I call BS. The worm on the screw pull is not long enough to go all the way through the cork, older corks break just below it even when you add an ah so. The screw on the Durand screws all the way through the cork so when you attach the ah so it will leave no cork behind when pulling it out . Plus the screw on the Durand is thinner material and screws into a cork like a knife through butter. Much appreciated an old wine soaked cork. There’s no comparison .

And I call BS back at you. The worm on my ScrewPull is 5 inches long and I’ve yet to see a cork close to that in length. I’ve used it in conjunction with an ah-so numerous times and have always been able to extract the cork. I don’t doubt that a Durand would work equally as well, but I’d rather spend the $100+ on wine.

My problem with trying this the other day was actually the length, too long of a gap such that putting an ahso over it would not allow the ahso to have its prongs go the length of the cork. The Durand’s screw is flush with the metal piece so that the ahso portion can run the full length of the cork. I feel like I’m missing something here if others have gotten it to work with equal success to a Durand.

[Brian_Tuite]

@bryan c

My problem with trying this the other day was actually the length, too long of a gap such that putting an ahso over it would not allow the ahso to have its prongs go the length of the cork. The Durand’s screw is flush with the metal piece so that the ahso portion can run the full length of the cork. I feel like I’m missing something here if others have gotten it to work with equal success to a Durand.

It’s kinda like owning an Apple product and having someone tell you their Windows machine is superior because it does the same thing for less. Do what makes you happy.

[Philip_N_Jones]

The patent on the Screwpull (now known as Le Creuset) expired several years ago, and so several knockoffs are available. I have had good luck with the original Screwpull/Le Creuset, and so I try to avoid the knockoffs. Right now, I am using a pocket model Screwpull that I have been using for several years, although in the past I have occasionally broken one. But breakage is rare if you treat them with respect. I almost never feel the need to use an ah so, but almost all of my wine is less than ten years old.
If you want to buy a Screwpull, you might look for a bargain at a Le Creuset store at your local outlet mall.
Phil Jones

[MattBerto]

@bryan c

My problem with trying this the other day was actually the length.

I hear ya there, brother.

[Brian_Tuite]

@MBerto

@bryan c

My problem with trying this the other day was actually the length.

I hear ya there, brother.

[TimF]

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Of course you can use the two pieces independently - but then it’s it’s just the same as an ah-so and the worm of a screwpull, which is what I’m saying in the first place. Since using the two parts of the Durand together is no better than using two separate items together, in my opinion, and you sometimes have to use them separately, I see no reason to spend the money on it unless you want something that seems more cool and comes in a neat little box.

The proper use of the Durand is to use them separately. First you put the screw in, then you put the ah-so in. They fit together perfectly, unlike using a normal screw and ah-so. The design is perfect for the application and always prevents the cork from being pushed into the bottle.

[Merrill_Lindquist]

Monopole Stainless from Germany. A work of art.

[Larry_P]

Problems with cheap ah-sos: tines too thick, tines not curved correctly, all the pieces friction-fit instead of riveted together. The Monopol is the best and IMO worth the slight extra cost.

The Durand is really a different best and in a totally different class. It’s the best for removing old corks.

[Wes_Barton]

A good cheap screwpull plus a good cheap ah-so works as well as a Durand. If you’re smart in your shopping, that"s $6 + $6. And, frankly, neither of those two components is ideal on a Durand.

In practicality, if you know you’re opening an old bottle, you’d probably start with a Durand, if you had one. But, with some random moderately mature bottle you might not. So, if you’re using a waiters corkscrew and you see the first hint of an issue with the cork, all you need to do is add in an ah-so, rather than take out the corkscrew, dig out the Durand, etc. Easier.

A good ah-so has thin tongs with the same curve as the inside of the bottle neck.

Brian - one reason the Durand is short of ideal is because the worm is short. It’s the same length as my various waiters corkscrews, so I have no idea why you seem to be claiming it’s universally longer.

Btw, I never us an ah-so by itself. Too easy to push a cork in.

If you come across one, cannibalizing an extra long work from one of several alternative pull devises is a good tool to help remove a partially pushed in cork fraction.

[Wes_Barton]

@TimF

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Of course you can use the two pieces independently - but then it’s it’s just the same as an ah-so and the worm of a screwpull, which is what I’m saying in the first place. Since using the two parts of the Durand together is no better than using two separate items together, in my opinion, and you sometimes have to use them separately, I see no reason to spend the money on it unless you want something that seems more cool and comes in a neat little box.

The proper use of the Durand is to use them separately. First you put the screw in, then you put the ah-so in. They fit together perfectly, unlike using a normal screw and ah-so. The design is perfect for the application and always prevents the cork from being pushed into the bottle.

With the normal screw, it’s easy if it’s slightly off center. You might see that you’ve done that incidentally. Or, in the case you’re planning to use both together, you just put the screw in slightly off center and slightly diagonally, which Sarah indicated earlier, which is probably slightly superior to maintaining cork integrity than pulling straight up. The slight sideways pressure at the lower end of the cork should help it hold together.

[andy_velebil]

@Larry P

Problems with cheap ah-sos: tines too thick, tines not curved correctly, all the pieces friction-fit instead of riveted together. The Monopol is the best and IMO worth the slight extra cost.

The Durand is really a different best and in a totally different class. It’s the best for removing old corks.

+1

I use an Ah-So and a Durand a lot, as in about every week for old Port and wine bottles. Cheap Ah-So’s suck, buy a good one for the reasons mentioned.

And get a Durand as well for those really older ones.