How To Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew

Nothing is worse than going to open a wine bottle, only to find that there is no corkscrew in sight. You might try using a knife or a shoe (more on this later), to no avail. Rather than ruining a perfectly fine bottle of wine just because you don’t have an opener, you should try one of these handy and reliable tricks instead.

1. Use A House Key

This handy video shows how you can open a wine bottle using just a little old house key. Push the key into the cork at an angle. Drive it as deep as you can, all the way into the cork. Use your thumb to rotate the cork and lift up at the same time. Eventually, it comes far enough out that you can grip it to pull it out the rest of the way.

2. Use A Hammer And A Screw

Most of us have a hammer and a screw lying around the house, so get out that toolbox. Just hammer a screw into your cork, and use the back of the hammer to pull the cork out. Genius!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0E6Ok0-MP0

3. Use A Bike Pump

If you’re a bike owner, chances are you have a pump at home. It turns out you can open a wine bottle using your bike pump. Wedge the pump into the cork, and using some pressure to pop it out of the bottle. This method seems a little risky to us, so be sure to wear some protective eye gear and keep a safe distance if trying this one!

Here’s What That Shoe Trick Is All About

As several people have demonstrated on YouTube, if you place the bottom of a bottle of wine into a sturdy, supportive shoe and then bang the shoe against the side of a building, the cork will eventually pop out. Some of the staff at NPR decided to give this a try a couple years ago, and while the process wasn’t quite as easy as this guy makes it seem, the trick did ultimately work (while simultaneously giving the participants quite a workout).

Watch below:

Once you’ve got your wine open, take it with you in these awesome portable wine glasses:

There now, you’ll never have to go wine-less again. Because, when you have a good bottle of wine but no corkscrew, don’t let this be you:

via GIPHY