November 13, 2006

Screwpull Lever Action Corkscrew

If you had asked us 24 hours ago, we would have told you there's no reason to get a fancy schmancy corkscrew. We would have told you our four dollar plastic one works just fine. If you'd pressed us we would have asked you if an expensive lever-action screwpull would open a bottle quicker or otherwise enhance our drinking experience. Of course, that's before we tried out the LE CREUSET Lever Action Corkscrew (Amazon). Find out more after the jump.

Maybe it did save us a little time in opening the bottle, but if so it wasn't more than a second or two. The foil cutter was sharp and we were into the bottle lickety split, but it wasn't any land speed record. And yeah, that lever action was simple and quick, and we were able to get the cork back off the screw without twisting our wrist at all. Cool, but not mind-blowing. Nope, that wasn't what impressed us most about the Screwpull.

What got us most was the impressed looks on the faces of our guests when we got out the hefty leather-looking case and put it on the table. All of a sudden we knew what drives people to pay big bucks for their corkscrew - they're just plain cool. The oohs and aahs from our guests were a plus too when we slotted the opener on the end of the botle, pulled the lever and popped the cork off the screw with zero effort. It made us feel like gunslingers - we wished we had a holster so we could blow on the end of it and twirl it away with a flourish.

Plus, we read on the Le Creuset Screwpull product page that it was designed specifically for synthetic corks, which we have noticed can be pretty danged troublesome to get off our cheapie corkscrew. Point, Screwpull.

So what's the verdict? All in all we found it to be a great tool, it seemed extremely solid and well-made, and we're going to use it every chance we get. Maybe you don't need one, but if you drink a lot of wine and want a smooth and elegant way to pop the top, you might just find it's worth it.

Amazon - LE CREUSET Lever Action Corkscrew