Corkscrew length?

Try an "Ah So" which has two prongs that wedge on either side of the cork and slowly work the cork out with a little side to side pressure while pulling the cork out. I find it works pretty well with older corks. You need to be a bit delicate when working it down between the inside of the neck and the cork. I also have a double helix for older corks that distributes the stress on the cork over a bit more area.

Try the Screwpull. It has a very long teflon coated helix.

Tom S

Almost anything is better than the symmetrical lever gizmo that you are using. Take a look, try Screwpull or Pulltap or Rabbit or whatever strikes your fancy:

pavane

"Tom S" in news:CDJee.1707$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...

I can't endorse strongly enough Tom S's advice. I'm finding this gadget indispensable for a couple of independent reasons:

1. The key principle of the long, relatively wide-diameter, fine helix. For decades, wine experts have pointed out (and on this newsgroup and its predecessors we've reviewed) the crucial distinction between a helix and a drill. A helix has a hollow center. A drill (so similar looking to the casual user) has a solid center and tends to split corks, especially tricky corks. For long or old corks such as decades-old reds, you cannot screw around (Verzeihung!), or you will gratuitously break corks. The Screwpull helix seems very deliberately designed, it has a wide _opening diameter_ for good purchase on the cork, while it is made out of _narrow metal_ with a sharp point and Teflon-coated, so it penetrates easily.
2. The well-thought-out compound-action tool seemed like a novelty the first few times I used it but when opening quantity bottles (as for tastings) it truly minimizes effort. With simple hand action, the extracted cork is ejected from the helix in a businesslike way (like a lever-action rifle ejecting a spent cartridge; you gringos of a certain age may picture Chuck Connors in _The Rifleman,_ TV circa 1955, and one can rapid-fire-open multiple wine bottles almost as fast, with the Screwpull-type openers).

The two-pronged Ah-So type opener (discussed to death in the 1980s) is also useful for getting a grip on difficult corks (in absence of a Screwpull). I did see a couple of bottle necks ruptured, around 20 years ago, through the use of this tool; it may depend on technique.

-- Max