Is there a way to open a wine bottle when you don't have a corkscrew?

Answer 1

Carefully, place a knife in the center of the cork. Next CAREFULLY with the butt of your hand or a kitchen mallet, hit the butt of the knife. Makes a mess, but it works.

Answer 2

there's a couple different ways to do this - some messy - some dangerous

Some people us the technique to actually break the neck of the bottle clean off. The most orthodox manner to go about this is to heat the bottle neck right at the bottom of the cork. You can do this with a candle with a tall flame, kitchen blowtorch (if you have one). Once it's to hot to touch very gently take a cold wet cloth and brush it over each side of the heated area. It should give you a clean break. It's a good idea to do this over the sink or a bowl.


If you are wanting to show off (careful - this takes practice) you can do what proffesional sommeliers and chefs do. I learned how to this as part of my sommelier training. "Sabrage" or to use a saber, is normally done on champagne bottles but it can work on standard corked wine bottles as well. Take a long chefs (butcher) knife and swiftly move it in a diagonal direction (45 degree angle) toward the top of the neck of the bottle (gliding along the line of the bottle so that it hits at the lip of the bottle). Restaurant presentation of this is done with a sword - but that's just for show - the back end of the chefs knife works just fine.

Answer 3

If you're planning on drinking the whole bottle and don't care about being classy take the blunt end of a knife or other small flat-ended object and push the cork down into the bottle. Just don't use a screw driver or pointy object or you'll be picking cork out of your glass!

Answer 4

I've had to do this at work before. Use a butter knife and very gently push the cork into the bottle. Then use the knife to hold the cork back so you can pour. Don't do this in front of guests, but it works. Then just use another cork or stopper.

Answer 5

yes I agree with Imsgoodg..

Dig out as much cork as you can, with what ever you have.

Then push the cork into the bottle. It works when you break a cork with a corkscrew.

Answer 6

yeah
break the wine bottle or
pull the cork out with somthing

Answer 7

Tie a Knot in the end of a shoelace and then push the cork down into the bottle as well as the knot you tied in the shoelace. get the knot below the floating cork and then pull the shoelace out and the cork will come out with it.
Sorry about the marinated shoelace.

Answer 8

Try and get something like a skewer down the side of the cork to let a bit of air in as you do it, then push it in.

Answer 9

you can get a screwdriver and a hammer and punch the cork into the bottle.

Answer 10

screw, screw drive, pliers,
turn the screw in the cork with the drive, 3/4 in then pull out the screw with the pliers.