NewYorkFirst.com: Pulltap Waiter's Corkscrew

Wine and the Waiter.

“Sir, the 1997 Chalone Pinot Noir you ordered.”

Using the serrated knife blade on your waiter's corkscrew, remove the foil from the top of the bottle, preferably under the glass lip on the bottle, and place the foil in your pocket. Remove the cork from the bottle, and place to the right of the host for his or her inspection. Wipe the inside of the neck of the bottle to remove any deposits or cork particles that may be there, then pour a taste of wine for the host.

When the host approves of the wine, begin to pour each of the guests. Pour for the guest immediately to the left of the host and then proceed clockwise around the table. Women should be poured first and pouring should continue clockwise until all women are poured, and then another lap to pour the men, always ending with the host. When pouring a white wine, fill the glass a little under 2/3 full. With red wine the glass should be filled a little under half way, leaving enough room for some good wine swirling. Always fill the host's glass last. So, in a nutshell: you make presentation, remove capsule, remove cork, place cork on table, wipe, pour taste, wait for nod, pour everyone, set bottle on table, then, bam! off to the next table.

The compact, folding Pulltap Waiter's Corkscrew is the tool of choice at Morrell's Wine Bar, where they open more bottles than any other restaurant in New York. The current hit with working wait staff, Pulltap makes it a cinch to pull out even the trickiest corks. A reliable corkscrew is the key to successful wine service.

On one end is a tiny flip-out blade that can be used for cutting off the foil capsule, removing a price sticker, or carving your initials into a wine cask. On the other end is a lever that doubles as a bottle-opener (for when the world runs out of wine and we have to drink something else) as well as a brace that rests on the edge of the bottle to give you leverage when extracting the cork. The simple perfection of the Pulltap waiter's corkscrew makes it easy to open a bottle of wine without setting it down on a tabletop; it is that much easier when you use the table like everyone else.

This is the model that looks like a pocketknife, with a folding worm, a folding knife for cutting the foil capsule, and a lever that rests against the rim of the bottle as the cork is extracted. Its two-stage levers assists in the extraction of really long corks of your best bottles or the synthetic corks of everyday table wines. Simple and elegant, this is by far the most portable and adaptable corkscrew. Includes leather holster and wooden gift box.