Opening plum wine

I do not drink plum wine, but I have opened half-scored metal caps on other products that I could not open just using twisting by hand. I don't know where you live, so you may or may not find exactly what I mention in your local stores. However you likely can find something about the same in most parts of the world. There is a special holder for hacksaw blades that is about 8' long that lets the blade extend a few inches(adjustable) at the end of the holder. This normally is used to reach in tight places where you can not get the bow of a normal hack saw in. The one I have is labeled 15-809 by Stanley and is made in the USA(since it is a few years old, it might well be made in the far east and sold by Stanley by now). Also buy a regular hacksaw blade with fine teeth. The blade I use is a 24T x 10". An ordinary hack saw with fine blade likely would work, but it would be rather clumsy to use. Also a drywall (plaster board) saw should work, but the fixed, stiff blade on it has has rather large teeth. The normal use for it is to go in through a small hole in drywall boards and saw out a large opening. Stanley also makes this, and it likely will be available at building supply and home center stores. The price of these two special saws is quite reasonable.

I do hope your hacksaw blade holder is 8 inches, not 8 feet! As I read I got an image of two people holding the hacksaw blade and on holding the wine bottle... :-)

Actually I usually have a pet gorilla do the work, and he needs a long tool to reach from his cage to where I have the bottle. If you are close enough for him to reach you with his hands, he may hug you and break some of your ribs. He can twist the caps off by hand, but I am afraid he will break the glass bottle neck and cut his hand. :-). Oh well, this tall tale is no worse than some of the political ads I am hearing these days. However 8 "(inches) is about right for a hacksaw blade holder for me.

Is this a Stelvin closure, the same kind of screwtop used on some regular wine bottles?

If so, I can tell you that a Screwpull capsule cutter works just fine on them. I learned this by accident a few years ago, when I used one to remove the top of the capsule from a bottle, and was shocked to then see that the bottle had no cork underneath it! ;-)

Probably.

But I want to close the bottle of plum wine after. I suppose I could use a rubber stop.

Or a cork.

If it's a stelvin, it should screw off (and back on). No?

Jose

I believe Ken's method for opening it would destroy that characteristic.

I feel like I'm walking into a blond joke. If it's a screw-off stelvin, then it's not necessary to engage in brute force tactics. Generally they are perforated near the screwtop. I would conclude from the thread that it is not a screw-off stelvin, but the question did come up.

Are there stelvin caps that don't screw off? (not counting crown caps)

Jose

Or a cork.

Or a Vacuvin stopper.

My suggestion--certainly brute force--was for someone who was having trouble opening it. Certainly if it screws off easily, there's no need to do what I suggested.

No, but there may be some that, for whatever reason, are difficult to unscrew. I was trying to help someone who seemed to be in that situation. I certainly don't recommend that method for all Stelvin closures.

The bottles that I most often have to use the hacksaw blade on are some small bottles of Italian vinegar. The screw cap is of considerably smaller diameter than on most wine bottles. There is a plastic seal under the top of the thin metal screw cap. There are threads on the glass bottle so the screw cap can be resealed many times, since vinegar often is stored for a long time after opening. There is a glass ring with flat surface just below the glass threads. Unopened, the screw cap extends over this glass ring and is pinched down under the ring so the cap will stay very firmly attached during shipment. The perforations in the metal are at the bottom of the glass ring just before it curves in to a diameter less than that of the ring. When the screw cap is twisted, the screw cap is supposed to break at the perforations. Then the lower part of the screw cap below the ring falls down the neck of the bottle and the screw cap can then be unscrewed and resealed. The problem is that often much force is required to twist the cap to break it. If one users pliers on the upper part of the cap, the metal bends and binds on the bottle threads. The hacksaw blade trick is the best way I have found to overcome this problem.

Pleased to know I am not the only one