The Great Durand Cork Remover

[Yule_Kim]

Thank you. I appreciate the detailed explanation. It makes a lot of sense.

[Rich_Brown]

@Scott_Watkins

User error? never had that problem

Sorry Tom, its 100% user error. I’m still batting .1000 with my Durand and use it pretty often.

As they say…practice makes perfect. Give it another shot!

[Cris_Whetstone]

I was right. From Jan 2022:

DurandCorkscrew: What Am I Doing Wrong??

I was recently given a Durand corkscrew for my BD by wine friends. I have been led to believe that the Durand is the bee’s-knees for removing old corks. Used it tonight on 4 old Siduri Pinots. Worked correctly on only one. I pull the corkscrew off the AhSo remover. I then drive the corkscrew all the way down to the hilt. I then take the AhSo part & insert it into its two slots of the corkscrew handle. Only once did it correctly insert between the cork & the btl neck. The other three times, the…

[Yule_Kim]

Wow, it’s like deja vu or something. Even the joke about a PhD engineer not needing to read the instructions.

[Mike_Evans]

I resisted getting a Durand for a long time and just did the Pulltap/Monopol hack. The Durand is more reliable, which is really the whole purpose of the screw/prong approach.

[etomasi]

I’ve only had mine fail on 1 or 2 bottles. Usually its when the cork is so loose, even a light tough pushes it in or where its super crumbly. Mine is getting pretty beat up at this point after dozens if not hundreds of bottles. The ah-so tines are getting very bendy when rotating and pulling for tighter corks compared to a new one a friend got. Waiting for it to break soon.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

I have messed-up at least one other ah-so while using it to remove a very tight cork; my conclusion was that I probably didn’t need an ah-so, and shouldn’t have used one.

[Kent_Comley]

I use the Durand a lot.
I affectionately refer to it as “Durand Durand”. The young staff don’t have the foggiest about my lame Dad joke, having never listened to Girls on Film or The Reflex…but I digress…
It’s weakness is soft and crumbly corks. Sometimes the screw can hollow them out, but these corks are so bad, nothing will work.
To me it’s still the best solution on ''Planet Earth"

[Andrew_K]

@Rich_Brown

I’m still batting .1000 with my Durand

10% eh? That’s rough.

[Tom_R_W]

Yes, major deja vu….

[TGigante]

@Kent_Comley

I use the Durand a lot.
I affectionately refer to it as “Durand Durand”. The young staff don’t have the foggiest about my lame Dad joke, having never listened to Girls on Film or The Reflex…but I digress…
It’s weakness is soft and crumbly corks. Sometimes the screw can hollow them out, but these corks are so bad, nothing will work.
To me it’s still the best solution on ''Planet Earth"

Kent,
That’s good to know. There may be an application to just go in solo with the Ah So portion when these types of corks are encountered with the initial worm attempt.

[JohnMag]

I’ll merge another thread — my Durand, at its exorbitant price and all, is the only thing in my wine life that makes sense. Saved many a disintegrating cork. Love it and never had a problem.

[JonathanG]

What in the Tom Hill is going on?

[Steve_McL]

I’m a Durand fan. As designated noob at a recent tasting of heavy hitter Burgs and Bordeaux, I got to open most of the bottles. 09’ Rousseau Chambertin? 82 Chevalier Blanc? What could possibly go wrong?

I was a touch sweaty about it, but they all opened great.

There was, memorably, a 28’ Montrose (not a typo) that @Sarah_S tackled with the Durand. That one DID have a crumbly cork and came apart some on the way out, but the wine was fresh and delicious, so I guess it did its’ job.

[JohnMag]

@Kent_Comley

I affectionately refer to it as “Durand Durand”. The young staff don’t have the foggiest about my lame Dad joke, having never listened to Girls on Film or The Reflex…but I digress…

They probably don’t know who Jane Fonda or Roger Vadim are either….

[Rich_Brown]

@Andrew_K

@Rich_Brown

I’m still batting .1000 with my Durand

10% eh? That’s rough.

Ha ha ha! Oop!

How about it’s worked 100% of the time

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Almost a .1000 percent increase!

[Rich_Brown]

@Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w

Almost a .1000 percent increase!

[joejolesch]

I thought it was 60% of the time, it works every time

[John_Morris]

@TomHill

Ah so… operator error. I’m a PhD Engineer. Why should I bother w/ reading the instructions??
Tom

I believe that your failure to read the instructions is attributable to your being a man rather than your being a PhD engineer.