The Best Wine Openers
Verified by
Ryan V. Editor-in-Chief
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Grace Kelly at Serious Eats opened 50 bottles with 20 lever, twist and waiter's openers. Her pick was the Pulltap's double-hinged corkscrew. She loved the balanced metal handle, the sharp worm and the spacing of the two fulcrums, which made it easy to lift the cork out in two short pulls.
America's Test Kitchen reached the same answer from another direction. Its twist-corkscrew review pitted 11 models against the Pulltap's Classic Evolution, its favorite waiter's corkscrew, over 20 bottles each, then on old Bordeaux with long, brittle corks. ATK still calls the Pulltap's the best tool for opening wine, and particularly for crumbly corks, because it averages about 9 seconds per cork and lets you change the angle and spot where the worm goes in.
Food & Wine's Vicki Denig, a certified wine specialist, tested 32 openers and named a Pulltap's double-hinged model her Best Value, noting that it is what most sommeliers and wine professionals reach for. TechGearLab's 2023 test of 75 natural, synthetic and crumbling corks also put it first for the money. Four test teams chose the same 3.1-ounce tool.
What It Won't Do
It takes practice. America's Test Kitchen admits the Pulltap's has a learning curve, and you need two hands and a few bottles before the two-step lever feels natural. Serious Eats also wished the foil knife were sharper; it cuts foil, just less cleanly than the OXO's claw blade. Knockoffs are common, so look for the Made in Spain stamp.
The OXO Steel Double Lever is the corkscrew Food & Wine put first. Vicki Denig tested 22 manual corkscrews and 10 electric openers with prices hidden until after testing, and the OXO had the most comfortable handle of the dozens she tried. It removed corks effortlessly every time.
Serious Eats ranked it right behind the Pulltap's as its Best Budget pick. Grace Kelly liked the grippy rubber handle and nicely spaced fulcrums, and she found the cat-claw foil cutter swiped through metal wrappers like they were nothing. The Pulltap's foil knife, by contrast, left her wishing it were sharper.
Two of the most recent tests in our research rank these two corkscrews first and second, in opposite order. The OXO costs less and is stocked almost everywhere, so it is the easy recommendation for anyone opening young, everyday bottles. The Pulltap's keeps one edge: its proven record on fragile old corks.
What It Won't Do
It is the bigger tool. Serious Eats found it a bit large with a long second fulcrum, and at 3.7 ounces and 5 3/8 inches it is heavier and longer than the Pulltap's. Food & Wine also called it slightly pricey for a waiter's corkscrew. None of our sources tested it on old, brittle corks, so for cellared bottles the Pulltap's is the safer choice.
Who Should Buy Which
Pulltap's Classic Double-Hinged Waiter's Corkscrew
Serious Eats' best wine opener after 50 bottles, and the waiter's corkscrew America's Test Kitchen uses as its benchmark
- You open older or cellared wines with fragile corks
- You want the corkscrew sommeliers carry
- You want something small enough for a pocket or apron
- You are willing to practice a two-step technique
OXO Steel Double Lever Waiter's Corkscrew
Food & Wine's top corkscrew of 32 tested, with a grippy handle and a foil cutter Serious Eats calls wicked sharp
- You are buying your first waiter's corkscrew
- You care most about a comfortable grip
- You want a foil cutter that slices cleanly on the first pass
- You mostly open young, everyday wines