New Corkscrew: The Durand .. A Web Video

WINE TALK
61

I had the chance to use the Durand on several old Ports at Roy Hersh’s house last month. I opened several old Ports, including one with an especially long and flared cork. The Durand really works! I don’t know any opener that would have cleanly opened one of those bottles (except Port tongs). So I’m now a believer!
-Dave-

62

Please provide links, don’t make us search! I spent at least an hour searching with various keywords, only found C.Bowman’s bumped 2010 thread.

Where is the 2011 thread? I only got Berserkerday awards nomination thread.

It is on the anniv date again @Jan 27th, 2011; which is on a Thrusday just over 2 days from now?

Timezone limitations for who? Those in the ‘East’ ie Australia/China/Japan etc, are going to be already on Thursday when those of us are still sleeping (or not) in the USA


edit [soap.gif] damn Todd, it’s ur site and you don’t even know about the Berserkerday subforum???

BerserkerDay Forum (Jan 27, 2012) - WineBerserkers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

63

I watched both the 2 & 5min versions, both are big-time sucky! Constant overlay/fade-in-fade out editing making it very difficult to actually see the device in operation, how it functions. After watching several times I think I can piece into my mind how it’s working— but the vids; really, really suck imho!

As best I can determine, you put a corkscrew down the middle of the cork? And how many times have you, on either and young or old cork…‘missed’ the mark in centering? Want to guess what happens next? Split cork, bits falling into the bottle if it’s a really deteriorated cork! So there still exists an margin of error for alignment problems for those of us who are challenged like that :slight_smile:.

Then you put/slide down the side of the cork, the Ah-So™ type puller. Anyone who’s used those before knows that with a poor cork, it’s easy enough to push the cork into the bottle. Yeah I know the corkscrew is supposed to prevent that. Did you see all the bottoms of the corks that are splitting and breaking apart? Well if the cork is particularly brittle/crumbly (in which case the wine inside may not be worth drinking, but that’s another matter), pushing the Ah-So™ like blades down the sides of the corks still has a potential of breaking up the bottom end of the cork inside the bottle, regardless of any corkscrew perfectly aligned and positioned in the center.

I use a 3-pronged stainless steel ‘grabber’ device (made in Italy IIRC, they sold them at the CSBH for a while, can go post up a pix tomorrow if anyone is interested?) to fish out pieces of broken cork, so with exception of very small bits of cork, I can usually get all of the broken cork bits out of the bottle that way and not need to decant, when i don’t want to decant.

64

The worm is extra wide, thin, long and sharp. Basically the whole goal is to hold the cork very firmly in place and then use the extra long Ah-So. My 1970 Palmer cork was a real mess, very spongy and wet (wine was fantastic though) and I popped it out in seconds without being the least bit careful or ginger.

I would like to get one of those long snot grabbers for snagging cork bits though.

65

The classical music/fine wine cliché makes me want to…not use that corkscrew.

66

Well the really good news is that when using the corkscrew no music or funny angels are cued. It just works. [dance-clap.gif]

67

http://www.bonanza.com/booths/shanabanana/items/VINTAGE_Cork_Lift_Cork_Retriever_in_Original_Box" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

‘Cork Lift’ …made in Taiwan :p. But it does the job pretty well. Better to not get bits of cork into the wine, but sometimes… hitsfan

Thing with old corks is while they deteriorate, wine that seeps into the cork keeping it moist will also dry out at the contact surface with the glass inside the neck. Almost acts like a glue at that point making the cork difficult to dislodge (sure some corks get harder/inelastic and more brittle/crumbly, but others get soft/crumby while sticking to the glass). I was thinking, if you had an Ah-So like blade that was just a tad wider, that had some super slippery, super thin non-stick coating applied like for not stick cookware? Might that allow some ability to insert the Ah-So like device, and with some kind of twisting motion, ease the blades sideways a little, making the ‘seal’ of dried wine in the cork/glass contact portion, more easily broken/dislodged…without tearing/spliting the deteriorating cork…as much?

Damn, maybe I should quickly get a patent :smiley:.

Better yet, patent idea #2, use one of those artery ballon devices, they use in heart surgery. Have to figure out how to get/make a hole large enough through the cork, but once you pass a slim tube into it you can inflate a ‘balloon’ inside the bottle and pull the cork out from leverage at the bottom of the cork- that would be ideal.

68

Bump.

I have the desire to acquire one. Low price on the web seems to be $125, haven’t confirmed if it’s plus shipping or not.

Does anyone know of a place with a better price?

Any plans for a Berserker Day special?

TIA

EDIT
buy direct from them it’s free shipping.
Rare Wine Co $8 shipping for one or two to the same address.
Free regular shipping from Medium Plus

69

Pretty standard pricing, as it’s best to order directly from Durand. However, it’s fairly easy to make your own using an Ah-So and a worm corkscrew if you want to save money. There was some commentary about how to do that in this thread.

70

When I was pricing them a couple years back it turned out to be cheapest to order it from them direct. No one offers them at a cheaper price. No one else offers shipping included.

71

Wish they made it with a longer screw. Only time I’ve had the Durand fail was when a long cork broke off below the screw.

72

For me, well worth the full freight.

Worked 100% of the time, with some bottles as old as early 1960s.

73

I went to an offline event here in Chicago earlier in the year, and someone brought theirs. Next day, I ordered one for myself, and have never looked back. Not sure how I lived without it. And yes, I ordered directly from them.

74

They did a special run a couple of years ago with longer worms for people that wanted them for old port and real old Bordeaux. You might want to give them a call to see if they have any of that run left in stock.

75

100% this. My only regret is not ordering one earlier. The peace of mind knowing that you’re NEVER going to have to worry about issues with an older cork is, IMHO, priceless.

76

Thanks John. I talked to them and tried to order one of those a few years ago and was sent a second one identical to the first. I gave it to a friend and gave up on getting one with a longer worm.