How to Open a Wine Bottle Without a Corkscrew?

This blog post will guide you to opening wine without corkscrew and help you change the embarrassing situation. But I must say, not all the methods of opening a wine bottle without a corkscrew are always foolproof. If your wine is quite expensive, you’d better wait for a corkscrew to open it.

Now, let’s dive into the five ways to open wine without corkscrew!

5 ways to open wine without corkscrew

1. Find a screwdriver, a screw, and a claw hammer.

The first way to open your wine without a corkscrew is to find some screw tools. Among screw tools, the longer, the better. If you don’t have a claw hammer, you can try to find pincer pliers in your hardware tools.

Whereas, if you have all the tools listed, it will be better.

Now you can attempt to open your wine. Place the screw on the cork and gently hammer the screw into the cork. When the screw is in place, use the screwdriver to screw the screw into the cork. The stronger the turn, the better. When finishing these works, you can start to use your claw hammer, take the claw side under the screw, then unlock the cork. This method is the best way to open wine without corkscrew, which doesn’t damage your wine at all. If your corkscrew is missing, this way will be your top option to open your wine.

2. Find a long handle spoon.

The second method is finding a long handle spoon to open wine without corkscrew. What you should notice is do not use a plastic spoon. Because a plastic spoon is easy to break when you use it to stab the cork. So, remember to find a stainless steel or wooden spoon. When you get the long handle spoon, you use the handle side to stab the wine cork until you push the cork down to the bottom. Now, you can enjoy your wine.

Pushing the wine cork in is one of the perfect methods to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew. It is safe, easy, and elegant. This method can rescue you from the awkward situation of missing the corkscrew and keep your elegance to open the wine.

3. Use scissors, knives, or keys to open your wine.

This way of opening your wine is somewhat similar to the first way. This time, you are using a scissor, knife, or key, plunging into the cork at an inclined angle and slowly moving the scissor (or other objects). In case of a slip, it will be helpful to prepare a towel in advance, which will help you hold the glass bottle easier.

After some twists, you will pull the cork out of the wine bottle easily. Generally, scissors and knives are more suitable than keys to open a wine bottle due to their sharpness, and keys are safer than the previous two. Therefore, you must be very careful when using sharp scissors or knives to open your wine bottle.

4. Use some towels or clothes to open the wine bottle.

This method uses the object’s inertia to open the wine bottle without corkscrew. This way is somewhat difficult and dangerous when you have to open wine without corkscrew. If you are very sophisticated with this method, you can do it. If you never did it, please think twice. Otherwise, you will destroy your wine and make a mess.

This time, you need to use towels or clothes to wrap the bottom of the wine bottle. After wrapping carefully, bang the bottle against a wall repeatedly. What is the most difficult thing is to control your strength. You need to handle your strength to a suitable level, then hit the bottle many times until the cork moves out of the bottle. This method makes use of an object’s inertia to open wine bottle without corkscrew.

5. Use one shoe to open a wine.

It’s similar to the previous method but not elegant. I suggest you refrain from using this method on any formal occasions. Put the wine bottle in the shoe and just bang it against a wall repeatedly until the cork is thrown from the bottle. In this process, do not use your full strength; just hit the wall slowly and repeatedly until the cork moves out of the bottle.

Another way is to slap the wine bottle bottom with a shop. Turn the wine bottle upside down, put it between your legs, and sit down. Simply slap the bottom slowly. After some time, the cork will move out. This way is better than the previous one, but don’t use it on impulse. Because it may make the awkward situation worse to some extent.

These are all five methods to open wine without corkscrew. If you have better solutions, leave a comment and share in the comment section below. Let’s share ideas about how to open wine without corkscrew!

Why do wine bottles have cork?

What is a cork? 

The history of cork can trace back to the 5th century BC. It is a wine closure that is made of oak. Although corks had been used as wine closure then, they weren’t the major method. Corks were closely linked with wine bottles until the middle of the 17th century. Today, corks are still the mainstream wine closure in Europe and many other countries. And screw caps can be found in Australia as the major wine closure.

Cork vs. Screw cap: which is better?

Pros of cork

• Ceremonial. As the oldest wine closure, corks are more ceremonial than any other wine closure.
• Romantic. When talking about wine, the first word that comes to mind is romance. The most famous wine should be French wine, and French wine succeeds the romance trait of France. Opening the wine with a pop sound is quite romantic and elegant. The pop sound will also put the party in full swing.
• Natural. Corks are natural materials that don’t cause an environmental burden.

Cons of cork.

• High cost. Corks are more expensive than screw caps.
• Easy to be polluted. Natural corks are easily polluted by mold. If there is mold over the cork, it will affect the wine taste and even go bad.

Pros of screw cap

• Good sealing performance. Screw caps help people seal wines better and avoid wines going bad.
• Low cost. Using screw caps extremely lowers manufacturing costs.

Cons of screw cap

• Have no delicate appearance. Many people think wine with a screw cap is cheap or inferior, which is because the previous wine culture influenced people. Original wine countries do not accept screw caps. In fact, no matter whether corks or screw caps are not the only factors affecting a wine’s quality.
• In a word, corks and screw caps are all good sealing methods. They have differences and similarities and also have advantages and disadvantages. For consumers, just purchase one that is your favorite.

Final thought

This blog post talked about five ways to help your open wine without corkscrew. Actually, I hope you will never have the chance to use them. But when you are in an awkward situation because of a missing corkscrew wine opener, the methods may give a hand to you.