Best Ways To Open a Wine Bottle With No Corkscrew

Let's all be honest. We have probably all been in the situation where we've had this problem. You're somewhere where you have a lovely bottle of wine you want to drink but suddenly find that you have no corkscrew available. Here are five solutions for opening a wine bottle with no corkscrew. 

1. Using a Shoe or a Boot 

Not counting sabering (using a large sword), the strangest way we've opened a bottle of wine is with a shoe. The process to open a bottle with a shoe is as follows. Remove all the foil and any cap from the top of the wine bottle. Place the bottom of the wine bottle into a shoe where your heel would normally go. Find a wall and line your shoe and bottle up to the wall so that the shoe is vertical and the wine bottle is horizontal against the wall. Holding the wine bottle and the shoe firmly together, tap both against the vertical surface like you're hammering a nail. Eventually, the force of the tapping will slowly push the cork out of the neck of the bottle enough for you to remove the cork with your hand.

1. Using a Ballpoint Pen 

If the shoe option isn't for you, then a ballpoint pen will work if really stuck. If desperate, then you can push the cork into the wine bottle using a pen. A pen isn't the only option for doing this and if you have a similar thin cylinder item, then you can use that also.

1. Using Tweezers to Open wine 

Picking away at a wine bottle cork has been know to work in a desperate situation. It's not the most sophisticated way, but if you need to open the wine and are limited in success with the other options, then it's worth a try. Simply work away at the cork until you can push the cork inside the bottle and hey presto! 

1. Long Screw and Hammer 

If you have a screw and a hammer then screwing the screw into the cork and then pulling it out with a hammer has been known to work a treat. You are basically turning the screw into a mini corkscrew with this method.

1. Using a Bicycle Pump to Open a Bottle

Using a bicycle pump, you must stick the inflator needle all the way through the cork and pump away. You should find that quite quickly, the cork will start to ease out of the bottle. After a while, it should be easy enough for you to pull the cork out with your fingers. 

If you have had success with any of these methods, then let us know. We would also be interested in hearing about any other tips for opening wine bottles if anyone has any that aren't listed here. Good luck!