Open a Wine Bottle without a Bottle Opener

John says on November 11th, 2005 at 1:36 am

1. Cram the cork down into the bottle with your thumb.
2. Live dangerously and drink the whole bottle – it begins to degrade as soon as fresh air hits it anyway.

No additional hardware required.

Robert says on November 11th, 2005 at 2:40 am

If you don’t have a wine opener you probably don’t have a screw or screwdriver either. Here’s a “camping” solution to the same problem that you’ll probably always be able to find the equipment for:

Find a stick. It needs to be fairly sturdy and able to fit inside the neck of the bottle.
Hold the stick in a standing position on the ground.
Place the wine bottle upside down on top of the stick.
Slowly push the wine bottle down onto the stick.
The cork will be pushed inside the bottle.
You’ll may lose a little bit of wine, but not much. You can turn the bottle upright just before the cork is pushed entirely into the bottle and finish the job to avoid spilling the wine.
The wine pours just fine, even with the cork inside the bottle.

Stephen says on November 11th, 2005 at 8:28 am

Push the cork into the bottle. Take a piece of string and push a loop into the neck of the bottle, keeping hold of the two ends. Tip the bottle a little and pull the string and jiggle until the loop of string is under the cork, which can then be pulled upwards back into the neck of the bottle and then out.

Doug says on November 12th, 2005 at 12:28 am

When pushing the cork into the bottle, often it is difficult to pour as the cork floats blocking the pour. Instead use a clean pocket knife or other small metal object to peirce the cork and push it into the bottle. The pocket knife will hold the cork on the bottom of the bottle, thus making for clean pours.

When your done with the wine break the bottle to retrieve your knife (though you might want to wait till morning if your happily drunk.

matt says on November 13th, 2005 at 4:58 am

For patient people, I’ve also heard another way.

You need a tree.

Turn the bottle upside down and “lightly” hit the bottom of the bottle against the tree bark. After a few hundred taps, the momentum from the wine inside the bottle will slowly push the cork out.

Jason says on November 14th, 2005 at 9:03 am

Here is a common trick in Switzerland:

Push the cork into the bottle, slow pour for the first glass, when the cork floats under the neck of the bottle, swirl the bottle a bit to make the cork spins then begin poring as normal while the cork is still in motion. The cork will folat to the top of the liquid, hence the bottom of the bottle.

hilary says on January 14th, 2006 at 3:33 pm

break the bottle. dont drink glass.

jizz says on March 15th, 2006 at 12:10 pm

alright thanks for the tips everyone and i just had to add the fact that to invest in this little gadget that can help how ever you chose your bottle, its like a cap for wine you pop it on and the top is a pour spoute and twist to close and open pretty nifty and will eliminate the horrble cork clogging pour

chris says on April 19th, 2006 at 11:43 am

thanks much. really does work. try a screw with a loop at the end, much easier.

thanks

spyralspyder says on May 23rd, 2006 at 1:31 am

smash the top,.. pour into vessel

jessica says on September 7th, 2006 at 11:12 pm

we have tried the screw thing, we have tried greasing up the bottle. we tried a screw driver (both kinds), we have nail clippers and a knife,a hammer, and scissors. there is actually glass chips in my key board right now from the top of the bottle and the cork is still in tact. i dont think the wine is safe to drink anymore but we may be here a while because we wont rest until we defeat the cork. but i think the real problem is that it is a cheap bottle of wine and the cork is actually foam. does anyone have any advice on foam corks?

Jessica says on September 9th, 2006 at 9:21 pm

I just found myself with a composite cork as well. It basically fell to pieces upon any type of prying, so I sucked it up and pushed the whole thing in.

Caveman says on November 18th, 2006 at 12:42 pm

Are we still living in stone age?

Karin says on November 29th, 2006 at 12:07 am

This one is fun, but you don’t really want to do it with nice wine.
You need a tree, although this is faster than the previous one.
Hold the bottle horizontally to the tree, and hit the back end against it reasonably hard. It may take a while to loosen the cork, but once the cork gets going, it goes. To avoid wine spillage, try watching the cork and pulling it out with your hands before it pops off.

balls says on December 16th, 2006 at 11:35 pm

balls
nothing works besides a cork screw
f you guys
you aint know nothing

joseph linaschke says on December 29th, 2006 at 1:48 am

took a few screws; the first one pulled out, leaving a gaping hole in the cork. Next I put two longer wood screws on either side of the first hole, and using a claw hammer (the pull-end obviously) pried the edges up, pulling on each screw head a bit at a time. Once it was up part way, I was able to pull the whole thing straight up.

We’re moving. Cork screw missing. Tools still available. *phew*

hollisterchick89 says on December 31st, 2006 at 8:34 pm

THiS IS S0 LAME! WE CANT OPEN THE WiNE B0TTLE CUZ THE C0RK SCREW BR0KE.. AND N0W THE C0RK IS STUCK.. 0H YEAH AND YALL’S TiPS F0R 0PENING A B0TTLE WiTH0UT A C0RK SCREW ARE WHACK!! EHH.. I JUST WANT S0ME FREAKiNG WiNE CUZ ITS NEW YEARS DAMMMN IT!!! =/

rob says on January 1st, 2007 at 1:48 pm

ok if pushing cork in do not have face over top of bottle. i got my face sprayed with wine and eyes burn like a b***h.

oKeos says on January 7th, 2007 at 11:37 pm

My friend ‘Crazy Joe’ has the perfect way to open any wine bottle without a corkscrew.

All you need is a sword

Simply use the sword to strike the bottle just under the cork, done correctly it will create a clean shear that leaves no glass shards and has the bottle opened in a fraction of a second.

Leslie says on February 14th, 2007 at 11:54 pm

Do not try to push the cork through. It will make the bottle explode and the glass shatters…just a heads up!

Steven S. Kim says on March 6th, 2007 at 10:50 pm

Well all you need is
-A 1′ – 1′ 1/2 screw
-Screw Driver
-Hammer or plier
-A bottle of wine

Screw the screw into the cork preferably a little off centered then get the end of a hammer or a plier and pull it just enough not to break the cork. Then bite on the cork and pull out gently. Do not bite too hard or else the cork will break at the bite point and you’ll have to repeat this whole process over.

This does not apply to screw off cap bottles.

bustanutandkilledabitch says on March 14th, 2007 at 8:16 pm

two 1″woodscrews screws into cork take pliers squeeze screws together push push the handle and pry the cork out by pushin down onto bottle don’t push to hard at once. screw screws in enough to allow room for pliers underneath
the screw heads nails don’t work worth a dick

divsky says on May 5th, 2007 at 7:21 pm

These people are all stupid. There is a very, very simple way to do this without loosing any wine.

Just take a small, sharp knife (a pocket knife works perfectly) and push it down into the cork at least halfway. Once it’s lodged into the cork fairly well, begin twisting the knife, turning the cork along with it while pulling upwards. Keep turning while pulling and the cork should slide right out.

daniel says on June 10th, 2007 at 12:56 pm

here is a tip that requires nothing but a steak knife. push the knife into the cork until it goes through and the knife blade wont snap off as you twist. now rotate the knife so the cork spins with the knife, now as your turning the knife pull the cork out with the knife, hey presto, knife + bottle= one happy booze hound

frantz says on August 23rd, 2007 at 12:34 am

So after reading all of these me and my wife came up with taking one of those hook hangy things from your ceiling if you have them and use that to screw into the cork,… then use anything long, skinny and straight, such as a screw driver and put it under the hook to pull the cork out with the hook. it works just as fast as a real opener!

monkey man says on September 18th, 2007 at 8:51 am

duuuude…. im bloody astonished no1 knows bout the most simple way of uncorking a wine bottle!

tak a syringe, fill it with air, insert the needle all the way into the cork and ejaculate d air iside the bottle. now just pull the needle back out and the cork will come along. SIMPLE!

rigoberto says on October 5th, 2007 at 12:54 am

Thanks to the people that told me to push the cork in. I now have wine ALL over my kitchen. On my ceiling, too.

I should have done it the Mexican way: broken into my neighbor’s house and stolen her wine opener.

stacy says on December 25th, 2007 at 5:14 am

use a metal steak knife to screw a screw into the cork until it is half an inch sticking out..then insert the screw into the center of a fork and pry the cork out(push down on the handle of the fork..when the cork comes out a bit..twist the cork with one hand while prying with the other hand..either have someone hold down the bottle while doing this..or use your feet..this method keeps the cork in one piece so you can twist it back in and close the bottle..

Winestudd 24 says on December 30th, 2007 at 5:21 am

I heard about this one and didnt believe it at first, but it really works. all you need is blu tac, baking soda, vinegar and a knife with a thin blade.
make a small hole in the cork, just big enough to compact a small amount of baking soda, cover the soda with vinegar then cover the hole with the blu-tac. in about one minute the whole cork just pops out and the wine is untouched. easy.

easykork says on March 10th, 2008 at 9:02 pm

You’ve got a glass, right? Go to Youtube and do a search for “Fast ChampagneOpening”. I’d link to it, but the page thinks I’m spamming.

Evgeny says on August 2nd, 2008 at 3:50 pm

Just get vodka

brian says on December 31st, 2008 at 4:01 pm

ladies use your mascara. comes in a cylindrical shaped thing. use it to push the cork down in to the bottle. its simpler than all these other suggestions…

Steven says on February 20th, 2009 at 10:29 pm

Simply screwdrive a screw into the cork until its securely inside the cork. Then pry it out with a hammer or a pryer. Trust me it works!

Steven says on February 20th, 2009 at 10:29 pm

Simply screwdrive a screw into the cork until its securely inside the cork. Then pry it out with a hammer or a pryer. Trust me it works!

Crystal says on March 6th, 2009 at 8:16 pm

okay, so here’s what I just did and it worked. I think someone else mentioned this too. First I took a knife and made a small hole by twisting it in circles. Then I took a screwdriver and scraped some of it out. I put it in the hole and hit it with my shoe. Yes, I actually did this. I didn’t think it would work but then the neck of the bottle got a big crack in it. I was able to pull half of the neck of the bottle off. Be careful not to cut yourself though, because I did (just a small cut). But it worked and no shards of glass got in the wine or anywhere else…it came off in one big chunk. Good luck.

Marielle and Traci Finkelhart says on March 20th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

The knife thing works. SERIOUSLY. just stick a knife in the cork and twist while pulling up. It takes a little bit of time, but it totally works.

Nate says on October 8th, 2009 at 7:49 pm

The screw and pliers worked out for me. I had to do a little tugging but it finally came out. MMMMMM…. Wine