In anticipation of a Cheval Blanc tasting, I helped decant 10 wines with my friend Dr. George Sirtes, an accomplished wine connoisseur who has collected for many years. I first met George, twenty years ago at a local auction and we have stayed friends ever since.

When it comes to old wines, it isn’t as easy as it looks to remove a cork. Often cork’s becomes dry and simply gets stuck. So how do you get them out, very delicately.

In this case, I use two Screwpull to lodge the cork (vertically) and get it secure and positioned to be pulled with more tension.

I developed this technique about twenty-years ago after getting frustrated by a cork that was giving me trouble. This technique works but you need to evaluate the cork and the Screwpull angle or the cork will crumble or break.

Shown below is another bottle and a different time and angle to approach the cork. You need to access the cork’s condition and take it from there. After pulling the cork out, a took some help from another angle and removed the cork successfully.