Sommelier knife: features of choice and rules of use

It is not for nothing that each knife, if you think about it, has its own role. For some it is convenient to cut bread, for some - fruit; one is suitable for meat, the other is for nuts.

By the same principle, there are sommelier knives, which also bear a simpler "popular" name - corkscrews.

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

The first records of the corkscrew as a tool appeared in the 17th century. Pyzhovnik became an analogue or even a prototype for this simple knife - a tool used to extract projectiles from the muzzle of a powder weapon in the event of a misfire.

In 1795, the English priest Samuel Henshallom patented this idea.

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

In total, over 350 different types of sommelier knives have been officially registered and patented throughout the history of this tool.

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

Another variation on where the sommelier's knife came from is that the tool at first was not used at all to open wine bottles, but to open perfume bottles or for pharmaceutical jars, which, in turn, in order not to spill the contents of the bottle, were sealed very tightly.And only after the corkscrew proved to be very convenient in opening perfume bottles, it switched to wine bottles. The first prototypes of the bottle screw appeared in France, but the British patented it.

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

Most likely, everyone in the apartment had such a tool. This is an inexpensive mechanism that will help open any bottle without breaking itself.

It is an ordinary 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 or 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 the 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 convenient in operation, and, most importantly, lightweight. That is, it turns out that it was necessary to invent such a knife in order to open bottles with it without much zeal or applying force.

The amazing and elegant bottle uncorking system is that the knife has tongs with which you grip the neck of the bottle, and the screw structure itself is in the piston, which you first effortlessly insert into the lid, and then lift, thereby taking 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 hiking kits.

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

The inventor himself initially assumed that his creation would be used primarily by waiters. And 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 the two-stage knife as it is more maneuverable to use, since 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 chance that the cap has dried out, thus becoming very fragile. It turns out that in this case it will be impossible to pull out the plug sharply, it will simply fall apart. And with two approaches, uncorking the lid will be completely easy.

The corkscrew is easy to use. In addition to the screw tip, there is a small knife in the tool, which needs to cut off the foil. You need to start immediately under the largest ledge at the neck.

Then you should carefully remove the foil. Having spread the knife, we press on the cork with the screw part, making a puncture, then screw the screw into the hole.

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

Then, with the second notch set to the edge of the neck, pull and remove the cork from 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. When purchasing a tool in a store, you can ask:

• whether the "sting" is sharpened;
• 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 the video below.