Vacuvin Winemaster! You're My Hero!
Written: May 10 '01 (Updated Jun 25 '01)
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Pros: Really easy to uncork bottles once you figure it out.
Cons: You have to drink a lot of wine to justify $60 to open a bottle!
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this to a serious wine drinker, but not to the casual imbiber.
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| naphtalia's Full Review: Vacuvin Winemaster |
Like most grown-ups, over the years I have acquired a number of tools designed to pull a cork from a bottle.
The first was part of a Swiss army knife and worked pretty well, considering it also came with a pair of scissors, a regular and a phillips-head screwdriver, a couple of knife blades and a toothpick.
Later I got another tool which looked rather like the Swiss army knife one, but this one went on my keychain (I was waiting tables at a place where patrons sometimes brought their own wine, though we didn't sell any.)
Finally I became a real grown-up and got a "jumping jack" opener. All of these openers worked, but they all invariably left me with a torn up cork. They also relied on me and my strength and coordination to finish the job.
Well, at a friend's house, I recently got to use his latest birthday gift, the Vacuvin Winemaster. If I thought that my "jumping jack" opener was for grown-ups, then this must be for the truly mature. At $60, it is "the latest in technology." The instruction manual (which I was very glad I had) said that it is "the world's most advanced corkscrew."
To open the bottle with the Vacuvin one:
1) Cuts the foil. (It comes with a detachable foil cutter)
2) Grip the bottle. The winemaster has a bottlegrip that locks it onto the bottle so you can have both hands free.
3) Insert the spiral (my sister called it the "worm" but I tend to think that worms go with tequila, and I avoid them both.)
4)Lift the levers up and pop the cork.
The spiral is supposed to be coated with a special something that makes it work better than average. The good news is that this method requires no twisting or pulling. This is especially nice, I would think, for red wines which are best when not moved around too much.
It is possible to purchase replacement spirals for the Vacuvin, so that if this part wears out (how much wine do you drink?) it can be replaced. This is important because I wouldn't have to want to replace a $60 corkscrew too often.
This is a big tool and is definitely meant for the serious oenophile. For the casual drinker like myself, this tool takes up too much space in the drawer and would clear too much space in my wallet. I'd rather spend $60 on a bottle or two of wine than on another toy to open one.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 60
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Epinions.com ID:
naphtalia
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Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the_circus has left town.
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