CorkScrew recommendations for Two Buck Chuck

Does anyone have a suggestion for a corkscrew to open the difficult to open Charles Shaw wines*. The very dense cork is so firmly in the bottle that the usual corkscrew worm doesn't easily screw into it. We've had two screwpull openers that worked great, until they self destructed after about eighteen months.

I'm looking for something to replace that will hold up and that will easily "worm" into a very dense cork.

Thanks for any ideas,

Kent

*Two Buck Chuck, from Trader Jose's
Reply to
Kent
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"Dense" or synthetic? I understand that some synthetic corks strip the teflon off worms, for some reason especially on screwpulls. I use Pulltap 2 stage corkscrews. $5-8 each if you buy 4 at a time. do well with all newer corks. With older corks I decide whether to use Pulltap or AhSo, but I want a Durand

Reply to
DaleW

For wines that have been stored upright since bottling, the use of cork can be very problematic and may require an AH SO or other tool to get at the wine, and then filtering through a coffee filter to remove the cork particles. In this case, I like synthetic corks or screw tops. But, why are bottles wasted on a $2-3 wine? Put Chuck in a box!

JMHO, Dick

Reply to
Dickr

My Screwpull worm broke after several years. I called Le Creuset, who now owns the brand, and they sent me a free replacement worm. The didn't even charge me for postage. I would try giving them a call.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Hagley

Let no one say that they are an "Un-screwpullous" company ;-)

Godzilla

Reply to
Godzilla

Mark Lipton wrote in news:ioeuc9$end$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

Ah-So is not good for synthetic or composite corks and I have found a risk of breaking the glass of the bottle while trying to insert it.

My suggestion is getting a Waiter's Friend such as the one you linked, or a screwpull such as this:

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(link to amazon.com)

s.

Reply to
santiago

Thanks, Mike, I'll have a go at it.

Kent

Reply to
Kent

I think the Two Buck Chuck has a genuine cork, though I suspect it is made of cork particles. They all look the same. The cork is very hard and a pain to remove.

The Pulltap looks good. Where can you get them for $5-8 each in bulk? The AhSo doesn't work with the dense Two Buck Chuck cork.

I have a medium size cellar of old wines. To remove an old long cork in one piece, I first moisten the surface with water. Then I can more easily slide the AhSo all the way in and start twisting. I usually then remove the AhSo and use the Screwpull to pull. I can almost always get the cork out in one piece. We had a 1962 Chateau Suduiraut that I've cellared since 1969, the cork came out easily. The wine tasted great!, yes great! Not over the hill at all.

Given what I do above, I don't think the Durand would work for me. It's also ridiculously expensive at $125.

Cheers.

Kent

Reply to
Kent

Two buck Chuck, at $2.67/liter replaces the martini. I think the vintage chardonnay is decent, maybe lacking a bit in acid, and with no wood, obviously. It is much better than any box I've found. The Almaden chardonnay, at $2.32/liter is many points below it. I've never considered applying the 20 point Davis system to Charles Shaw.

A bit of humor, there,

Kent

Kent

Reply to
Kent

Thanks very much for all your comments. I think I'm going to try to find the Oggi Nautilus, recommended by Cooks Illustrated. So far I can't find it. Have any tried the True Fabrications Nautilus? That may be the same product.

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03324239&sr=8-3-fkmr1Thanks again,Kent

Reply to
Kent

How does it replace the martini? It has much less alcohol.

Anyhow, in our last encounter, two buck chuck (which was something like three (or four?) buck in VA), ended down the drain. I'm a low expectations drinker, and the only other wine I have ended up pouring down the drain was a cheap NZ rose (the name had "Penguin" in it). The NZ rose tasted of cherry-flavored cough syrup, except it was bone-dry, and I couldn't decide would it have been any less disgusting had it been sweet. Whereas the Chuck was simply bad.

Good cheap box wines in the US right now are the Corbett Canyon Pinot Noir (from Macedonia), and their Chenin Blanc/Pinot Grigio mix. Unfortunately, this last one is very hard to find (or it might have been some one-off negociant mix). Complicating the picture is that Corbett Canyon have a Pinot Grigio/Chenin Blanc box too, which has a higher alcohol content and is not as good.

Reply to
Patok

"Patok" wrote.............

Ahem!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Little Penguin" is AUSTRALIAN !!!!!!!!!!!

That is, that great parched land, slightly to the west of NZ - full of crocs and cane toads and sheilas and barbies, and home to Grange and Rutherglen Muscat and Shiraz (not Syrah!) - where men are men, and sheep are nervous!!!!!

A land settled by convicts - where stealing is still an art-form (I speak of Pavlova and Phar Lap and Crowded House) - where the language is known as "Strine".

A land whose national sport is cricket (where they now languish barely above the median of world rankings) where they play "Aussie Rules" (a game stolen from the Irish) or Rugby League (a sport of gratuitous violence - where again, they languish behind their Anzac neighbours in terms of modern achievement)

A WORD OF WARNING TO THE UNWISE:

I can say the above, because I am a New Zealander - and NZ and Australia will fight and compete to the death against each other, in all fields of human endeavour (good God, our respective symphony orchestras cannot perform in the same theatre lest blood is shed ;-).

However, we are also brothers - bound by the sweat and blood and the losses which were two world wars.

He that crosses my brother, also crosses me!

Next Monday (25th April) is ANZAC Day, where we gather in the chill of cold dawns in places like Gallipoli and Canberra and Wellington to remember those who gave their lives.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

Lord St.Helier Former batman to Lord Beaverbrook Proud to be a NZer - and even prouder to be brother to all Australians.

Reply to
st.helier

What don't you like about Charles Shaw Wines, especially the Chardonnay, but others?

Reply to
Kent

Indeed, your Lordship, "The Little Penguin" is Australian. Alas, the wine I'm talking about was not "The Little Penguin", and was, unfortunately, from NZ. I've had only good experiences with NZ wines before, mainly Marlborough SB's, and that's why I did not hesitate to give this one a try. (The name was something like "The Penguins", I seem to recall.) O woe betide, it was awful; but please don't think that this fact casts any doubt on the quality of the other NZ wines, or on my appreciation of such. After all, it can happen in the best of families, and nobody's perfect. :)

Reply to
Patok

Is this a question? If it is, I don't get it. In any event, I don't remember if I've had specifically the Chard of TB Chuck. I think I bought a bottle of each variety to try them, and they all ended down the drain. I guess that if there was a Chard amongst them, it shared the faults that most inexpensive chards sold in the US are heir to - flabby, sweetish, buttery and dull. Lest you think I'm universally criticizing, I can give an example of an inexpensive American Chardonnay that I liked - the Pindar Peacock Chardonnay. It is crisp, complex, and universal - goes well with any kind of food, and as aperitif. The only problem with it is that it is difficult to find.

Reply to
Patok

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