Hack 1: You need to get the wine out of the bottle. When the wine has a screw top, it’s easy: Twist. Open. Pour. A good screw top (bad ones exist, too; they let in air) is a great closure. It’s airtight, for one thing, except to the extent that air is trapped in the bottle’s capsule; the space between the top of the wine in the bottle and the bottom of the closure. That air mixes with the wine, helping it mature gracefully. Plus that, no danger of the wine being corked, and you can store it upright; no need to keep a cork moist. Purists point out that a good cork allows the wine to breathe “over time,” usually meaning ten or more years. Do you have wines that will last that long? Sure you could, as long as you’re willing to spend big bucks to look at a bottle for a decade. (I digressed. Sorry about that.) So what do you need? A good corkscrew; i.e., a waiter’s double-hinge corkscrew that you learn how to use properly;
directions here, BUT I cut the foil higher up, at the first ridge. How much for a good corkscrew? How about
$2.50 on Amazon? HOWEVER, if you want to give a great birthday, anniversary, or other “day” gift, try this oversize beauty, from Legnoart via Amazon; the one on the right. (FYI, my birthday is November 8.)
