Have a Wine bottle with a Cork but no corkscrew? It has happened to us all at some point and there are many different methods to open the bottle. Although Wine has been around for a long time, the cork is actually new. Wine was previously stored in earthenware vessels or wooden barrels.  Ron McLean, a corkscrew historian-who knew there was such a thing!-with the Virtual Corkscrew Museum has to say:



“It is unknown when and who made the first corkscrew. The first corkscrews were derived from a gun worme, a tool with a single or double spiral end fitting used to clean musket barrels or to extract an unspent charge from the barrel. By the early 17th century corkscrews for removing corks were made by blacksmiths as using a cork to stopper a bottle was well established.”

Lets get on with so you can enjoy your wine!

Open a Wine Bottle Without a Corkscrew using a Towel and Pressure

This trick is called “The Bottle Trick” and uses pressure to remove the cork. See the video below for a demonstration using a towel and a tree.

  1. Wrap the bottom of your wine bottle with a towel or any other padded cloth. Make sure this is wrapped well for the next step, so your Window Bottle does not shatter.

  2. Firmly hit (or slam) the bottle onto a flat surface such as a table top. This will cause pressure to build in the wine bottle and push the cork out. You may need to repeat this step several times.

  3. The cork should be sticking out far enough to allow you to pull it out with your fingers.

The Screw Method to open a Wine Bottle

  1. Find a long screw, as long or longer than the cork if possible. The screw should be fairly thick (with deep grooves).

  2. Screw the screw into the Cork leaving enough of the screw out to grasp. Use a screwdriver or even a drill with screwdriver bit on top to get it in faster. Don’t wiggle the screw as you screw in, this will cause the hole in the cork to widen and loosen grip.

  3. Put the cork out by the screw! You can use a hammer to do this, with the nail pull end. If you do, make sure you pull straight and do no pivot the hammer against the glass as this will cause the glass to break. You can also attempt to pull it out by hand. Pliers work as well.

The Push Method

  1. Use a piece of wire (such as a coat hanger or screw) to create a hole all the way through the cork. This will allow pressure to be relieved.

  2. Using a thick round object such as a marker, push the cork down into the wine bottle.

The Coat Hanger Method

  1. Find a wire coat hanger. These were popular in the past but are slowly being replaced with plastic coat hangers.

  2. Unwrap the wire coat hanger to form a straight piece of metal. You need about ten inches.

  3. Using a screwdriver (or other long straight device), wrap the wire around the screwdriver creating a cheap corkscrew replacement. This forms a coil and the coils do not need to be tightly wrapped in order for this method to work.

  4. Screw the newly created CorkScrew into the wine bottle.

  5. Pull out using the wire with hand or pliers.