Is the Durand Wine Opener Well worth the Hype?

Occasionally, one thing emerges that’s so helpful and needed that everyone just about forgets about what life was like earlier than it (assume: good telephones, espresso machines, and electrical guitars). Within the wine world, a type of instruments is the Durand, a multi-faceted system that lets collectors open outdated and fragile bottles with out having to fret (a lot) about damaged or pushed-in corks. 

Although it’s a kind of amalgamation of different easier wine instruments, the Durand itself emerged within the late aughts. Wine collector Mark Taylor began the corporate to provide a brand new form of opener particularly designed to make opening particular bottles far much less precarious. It’s been within the dialog (and in our cellars and eating places) ever since.

The Durand

As with all broadly mentioned product, it’s pure to wonder if it’s definitely worth the hype, and, in that case, whether or not you must soar on the bandwagon. On the one hand, the Durand’s $145 price ticket and hyper-specific utility might imply that it won’t be accessible or needed for somebody who merely loves attempting new low-intervention pores and skin contact wines from their neighborhood bottle store. However, if dropping a couple of bucks now can stop you from presumably wrecking hundreds of {dollars} price of nice bottles from your cellar within the coming years, it very nicely is likely to be one thing it is best to have. 

With a purpose to determine who, precisely, the Durand is for, and whether or not it actually lives as much as its popularity, I spoke to Licensed Wine Specialist Chris Voll of Bommarito Wine & Spirits. 

“It’s fairly important for opening bottles which were aged accurately for a really very long time. We’re speaking 10, 15, 20-plus years,” Voll stated, explaining that the system isn’t at all times needed for tremendous younger bottles with absolutely intact corks. After some getting old, cork decay slowly begins, and that’s the place the Durand is available in. 

“Ideally, if a bottle is saved on its facet, that helps hold the cork from drying out. However there’s going to be an inevitable quantity of drying out, and the cork will turn out to be brittle, crumbly, simply damaged,” he stated.

However why can’t one merely use an everyday corkscrew and simply be extraordinarily cautious? (Asking for a buddy.) Finally, the Durand depends on two parts to make sure that the cork is stabilized and eliminated as rigorously as potential, far more so than a conventional waiter’s corkscrew can guarantee. 

“The Durand combines a conventional corkscrew and what’s known as an Ah-So, two prongs inserted on the facet of the cork,” Voll defined, stating that the Durand corkscrew is usually longer than your typical one, that means it will probably go all through the cork. 

“That’s a part of the issue with a conventional corkscrew,” he stated. “If you happen to’re attempting to leverage it out, it might depart a part of the cork in there.” Merely put, newer bottles’ corks nonetheless have sufficient structural integrity that they’re (hopefully) going to slip out even when the corkscrew doesn’t absolutely penetrate.

Nonetheless, the Durand just isn’t at all times a assured win. “There’s positively consumer error with any instrument,” Voll stated. “The state of a cork can get fairly dangerous, and typically there’s not going to be any instrument that’s going to get it out cleanly.” 

But when one is attempting to make sure the best risk of success for opening particular bottles, there’s actually no substitute. “I feel my official stance on it’s that should you’re a severe wine collector with entry to bottles which are 20 to 30 years outdated, it’s important to have it,” Voll proclaimed. 

Thus, if in case you have some particular bottles that you simply wish to be further positive will make it to your glass safely, the Durand appears to be the way in which to go.

Store Extra Wine Instruments at Amazon

True TrueTap Double Hinged Waiter’s Corkscrew

Rabbit Bar Instruments Traditional Wing Corkscrew

Secura Electrical Wine Opener

DeVine Ah-So Wine Opener

HiCoup Wine Opener

On the time of publishing, the worth was $145.