Look at the closure first
Before you pick up any tool, look at what you are dealing with. The closure decides everything: the technique that works on a long natural cork is not the one for a compressed synthetic, and neither applies to a screwcap.
A natural cork is soft and slightly springy, and on an older bottle it is fragile. A synthetic cork is harder, grips the neck more tightly and needs more force, which is exactly when people slip. A screwcap needs no tool at all, though there is still a right way to open it.
Cut the foil below the lip of the bottle, not at the top. Wine should never touch the metal on the way out, and on older bottles the foil often hides mould that you do not want in the glass.
The waiter's friend, and why professionals still use it
It goes by several names, waiter's friend, sommelier knife, tire-bouchon, but you recognise it instantly: the folding tool with a spiral, a small blade for the foil and a lever. It costs very little, fits in a pocket, and in practised hands it is close to magic. There is a reason every restaurant in the world uses one.
The technique: cut the foil, place the tip of the worm slightly off centre and turn until it bites, then straighten it so it goes down the middle. Five turns, no more, and stop before the tip pushes through the bottom of the cork, which is what puts crumbs in the wine.
Rest the first notch of the lever on the lip, lift, then move to the second notch and lift again. Two stages, not one heave. The last centimetre is better done by hand, so the cork leaves without the pop.
If you buy one tool, buy this one, and buy the double-hinged version. The single-hinge design is what makes beginners tear corks.
The winged corkscrew, without snapping the cork
You know this one: two side levers that rise as you turn, then you press them down to lift the cork out. It is in most Italian kitchens and probably in yours. The problem is that many people use it wrongly and end up with half a cork.
Two rules. First, the worm has to enter the centre. The winged design encourages you to press down while turning, which pushes it in at an angle and splits the cork lengthwise. Turn without pressing and let the spiral pull itself in.
Second, keep the bottle upright and hold the collar firmly rather than the body. Most breakages here come from the bottle moving, not from the tool.
The lever corkscrew, fast and nearly foolproof
If you have people over often, or open more than one bottle in an evening, the lever type, the rabbit-shaped one with two arms that grip the neck, is probably the best money you can spend on this.
It costs more than a basic waiter's friend, in the band of a decent bottle of wine, and it removes almost all the skill from the job: clamp, push the lever down, pull it up, done in two seconds. It also handles synthetic corks, which are the ones that defeat people using hand tools.
The drawbacks are size, it lives in a drawer rather than a pocket, and that it is the wrong tool for old, fragile corks, where the force it applies is exactly what you do not want.
The ah-so, the only tool for old corks
This is the one to know if you have bottles with some years on them. The ah-so, also called the butler's friend, has no spiral at all. It has two thin flexible metal blades of different lengths that slide down between the cork and the glass.
You work the longer blade in first, then the shorter, rocking gently rather than pushing. Once both are down, twist and pull upwards at the same time and the cork comes out whole.
Why it matters: an old cork has lost its elasticity and a spiral simply tears through it. The ah-so grips the sides instead of piercing the middle, which is the only approach that works on a twenty-year-old bottle.
It takes practice. Learn on a bottle you do not care about before using it on the one you have been saving.
Sparkling wine, and why the bang is a mistake
Let us be direct: the bang is theatrical, festive, and wasteful. A glass of good Franciacorta heading for the ceiling is wine thrown away, and there is a real risk of breaking something or someone. Sommeliers open sparkling in near silence: you should hear a sigh, not a report.
The method: remove the foil, keep a thumb on the cork from the moment the wire cage is loosened, six half-turns to undo it. Tilt the bottle to 45 degrees, hold the cork still and turn the bottle, not the cork. Let the pressure push the cork into your hand while you hold it back.
Temperature is the whole game here. Above 10 degrees the internal pressure is markedly higher and the bottle is much harder to control; at 6 to 8 degrees it behaves. That is the real reason not to open sparkling straight off the shelf.
Never point it at anyone. The pressure inside a sparkling bottle is several times that of a car tyre.
Screwcaps
The screwcap carries more prejudice than it deserves. Plenty of quality whites, from Sardinian Vermentino to Sauvignon in Trentino, use one because it preserves fruit aromatics better and removes the risk of cork taint. It is not a sign of a cheap wine.
There is still a right way. Hold the bottle by the body and turn the cap, not the bottle: you will hear the seal break cleanly. Turning the bottle instead tends to strip the perforation and leave you wrestling with it.
For anyone buying Italian wine from abroad and worried that a screwcap means the merchant sent something inferior: it does not. In New Zealand and Australia the majority of serious whites are sealed this way.
When the cork breaks
Sooner or later it happens: the worm went in crooked, the cork was old and crumbly, or you were not paying attention. Half is out and half is still in the neck.
The instinctive move is to attack the remaining piece with the spiral again. Do not. That pushes it further down and turns a nuisance into a mess.
Instead, insert the worm at an angle, aiming for the side of the remaining piece rather than the centre, and pull slowly while tilting the bottle. If that fails, push the piece into the wine and decant through a fine sieve or a coffee filter. Cork in the wine is unattractive but harmless.
An ah-so is the proper answer here if you have one, since it grips what is left rather than piercing it.
Which corkscrew to buy
There is no universally best corkscrew, only the right one for how you drink.
A bottle a week: a good double-hinged waiter's friend in the accessible band does everything you need, and it will last years.
Dinners often, or several bottles an evening: a lever corkscrew. It costs more and it earns it in speed and in corks not destroyed.
Bottles of 10, 15 or 20 years in the house: an ah-so, in addition rather than instead. It is a specialist tool and the specialism is exactly the situation where a broken cork hurts most.
What not to buy: the cheapest possible winged model. The soft metal worm bends, and a bent worm is the single most common cause of a ruined cork.
Domande frequenti
How do you open a bottle without a corkscrew?
The most reliable method is pushing the cork into the bottle with something thin and blunt, the handle of a wooden spoon or a pencil. It is not elegant and it works. Pour through a sieve afterwards. The shoe-against-the-wall trick works occasionally and breaks bottles the rest of the time.
Which way do you turn the corkscrew?
Clockwise, always. The spiral goes into the centre of the cork, not the side. Turn without pressing down and let the worm pull itself in. Stop after about 5 turns, before the tip goes through the bottom.
Why do corks break?
Three usual causes: the worm went in crooked or off-centre, the cork was old and dry, or the pull was too abrupt. On bottles with some age, use an ah-so and go slowly.
How do I avoid the bang with sparkling wine?
Tilt the bottle to 45 degrees, hold the cork still with your thumb and turn the bottle rather than the cork. Brake the cork on its way out so it leaves with a sigh. A well chilled bottle at 6 to 8 degrees is much easier to control than a warm one.
Does a screwcap mean lower quality?
No. It is a technical choice that removes cork taint and preserves fruit aromatics, and many serious producers use it, particularly for whites meant to be drunk young.