Sommelier knife: features of choice and rules of use

For good reason, every knife, if you think about it, is assigned its own role. It’s convenient for some to cut bread, some for fruit; one is suitable for meat, the other for nuts.

By the same principle, there are sommelier knives, which also carry a simpler “folk” name - corkscrews.

What corkscrews exist when they appeared, as well as their varieties, will be discussed later in the article.

For the first time, records of a corkscrew as an instrument appeared in the 17th century. An analog or even a prototype for this simple knife was a fawn - a tool used to extract shells from the barrel of a powder weapon in case of misfire.

In 1795, an English priest, Samuel Henshall, patented this idea.

The development of corkscrews kept pace with the development and improvement of bottle caps, since bottled wine had to be not only well closed, but also then able to be opened.

In all, over the entire history of the existence of this tool, more than 350 different types of sommelier knives have been officially registered and patented.

But there is other evidence, for example, in his book “The History of Wine” from 1681, critic Hugh Johnson first described a corkscrew as something like a “steel worm” that pulls a cork from the neck of a bottle. The product was called a “bottle screw”, which was logical for that time.

Another variation of where the sommelier’s knife came from is that the instrument was first used not at all for opening bottles of wine, but for opening perfume bottles or for drugstore jars, which, in turn, so as not to spill the contents of the vial, clogged very tightly.And only after the corkscrew turned out to be very convenient in opening perfume bottles, he switched to wine bottles. The first prototypes of the bottle screw appeared in France, but the British patented it.

As mentioned above, in total there are about 350 patented types of corkscrews. Let's consider what “steel worms” exist now and how they differ from a sommelier’s knife.

Most likely, everyone in the apartment had such an instrument. This is an inexpensive mechanism that will help to open any bottle, while it does not break.

It is a regular screw with a handle, most often wooden, like the letter T. The principle of use is simple - we stick the tip of the screw into the cork and twist the rod all the way to the middle, and then apply force and pull the cork out of the neck.

Of the shortcomings - you need to apply force, and sometimes even a lot of force. And not everyone can open the bottle the first time. Unlike a sommelier’s knife, this model does not provide a knife with which you can cut the label.

Invented in 1979 by Herbert Allen. His main task was to come up with a model that would be easy to use, and, most importantly, easy. That is, it turns out that it was necessary to invent such a knife in order to open bottles for them without special zeal or applying force.

The amazing and elegant bottle opener system is that the knife has tongs with which you grab the neck of the bottle, and the screw structure itself is located in the pistonwhich, for starters, you insert effortlessly into the lid, and then lift it, thereby pulling out the cork.

The system is very simple and does not require any additional skills, but nevertheless, the price for such a simple tool will be quite high, and it will take up a lot of space. For wine connoisseurs such a knife will be a good gift and will be used for its intended purpose.

There are also other types of corkscrews - wine, eclectic, folding, which come in camping sets.

The sommelier knife was invented in 1883 by the German inventor Karl Veinke. Now this tool is referred to as the “Veinke Knife."

The inventor himself initially assumed that the waiters would use his creation in the first place. So it was. But because of the convenience of the knife, the sommelier began to use it, because it was practical, convenient and fast.

By type, the model can be divided into types:

• single-stage - the knife has only one notch on the working part;
• two-stage - this model has two notches.

Professional sommeliers prefer a two-stage knife, because it is more maneuverable to use, because everything happens in two stages. And this is considered the correct use of the tool, that is, the screw part moves the cork in the bottle, and then it is removed.

Another advantage of the two-stage system is that if the bottle of wine is old, there is a possibility that the lid is dry, thereby becoming very fragile. It turns out that in this case it will be impossible to pull out the cork sharply, it will simply fall apart. And with two approaches to uncork the lid will be completely easy.

Using a corkscrew is quite simple. In addition to the screw tip, the tool has a small knife that needs to cut the foil. You need to start immediately under the largest protrusion at the neck.

Then carefully remove the foil. Having spread out the knife, press the screw part onto the cork, making a puncture, then screw the screw into the hole.

Next, you need to slightly pull the handle, checking how well the screw is fixed in the cork, and then with great effort pull the handle, but only halfway out the cover.

Then, having set the second recess to the edge of the neck, pull and pull the cork out of the bottle.

It is in this way that it turns out to uncork the wine without unnecessary noise and undesirable consequences in the form of a spilled drink.

In order to choose the right professional corkscrew knife, you need to know some features. The corkscrew spiral should be made of quality material. By purchasing a tool in the store, you can ask:

• Is the sting sharpened?
• whether the spiral is made of solid steel;
• what is the diameter of the spiral.

How to open a bottle of wine with a sommelier knife, see below in the video.