Wine Opener Guide: 12 Best Types For Your Home Bar

Wine Opener Guide: 12 Best Types For Your Home Bar

Imagine looking forward to enjoying chicken liver pate and an exquisite bottle of wine with charcuterie after a long tiring day, only to realize that you have no means of opening it. Frustrating, right? That’s why you need to have at least one reliable wine opener in your kitchen. Even if you’re the type to rarely drink plain vino, this tool will come in handy for making specialty wine-infused dishes and drinks, like the ever-festive mulled wine

Continue reading for a few tips on how to determine the best wine opener for your lifestyle. Also, discover our top 12 picks for wine bottle openers that will be useful for both sommeliers (wine experts) and beginners alike. After that, you’ll have no problem popping out the cork from your wine bottle ever again!

Our Favorite Wine Openers at a Glance

Top 12 Wine Openers to Get This 2022

Nowadays, manufacturers clamor to give each type of wine bottle opener fresh and innovative designs to elevate everyone’s wine-drinking experience. While some fall behind on this agenda, a few models definitely stand out in terms of functionality and convenience.

Factoring in brand reputation, customer reviews, and overall quality, we’ve narrowed down the list for the best cork poppers into 12 recommended products. Here are our top picks for the ones you should consider getting for your home bar and/or kitchen this year:

Best Overall: Oster Rechargeable and Cordless Wine Opener With Chiller

What We Love

  • User-friendly
  • Ergonomic, soft-grip handle
  • Long-lasting battery

What We Don't Love

  • Bulky

The rechargeable Oster wine opener offers the best balance between value and functionality, and the rave customer reviews on this product are a testament to that. Aside from being reliable, it’s also stylish thanks to its stainless steel finish. If you’re looking for the best wine opener, this one simply takes the cake.

This product’s user-friendliness is definitely one of its strongest suits. All you have to do is position the wine cork in the mouth of the Oster electric wine opener and let technology do the rest of the work for you. Gone are the days when you had to exert so much effort into popping a cork out of a single bottle for your tenderloin recipe and other dishes. Now, you’ll be able to open up to 30 bottles with this tool on a single charge. This is the perfect ergonomic gift, especially for people who struggle with limited hand mobility. You’ll also receive a foil cutter and a thermal stainless steel cooler upon every purchase of this product.

Best Electric Wine Opener: Secura Electric Wine Opener

What We Love

  • Efficient
  • User-friendly
  • Long-lasting battery

What We Don't Love

  • Bulky

The Secura wine opener is the ideal cork remover to have for every occasion. It’s suitable for homes, classy gatherings, and it’s also powerful enough for restaurant or bar use. Treat yourself to a serving of Iberico pork and other cold meats, with a fancy bottle of wine easily uncorked with this kitchen gadget.

Aside from its sleek look, using this wine opener is a breeze. Like most electric wine openers, you’ll only have to place it on top of your wine bottle for it to do its job. With this gadget, you’ll no longer have to worry about finding out how to use a corkscrew. The Secura wine opener is also convenient as it comes with a foil cutter, and it’s compatible with most bottle sizes and a wide input voltage range.

Best Value: Beneno Premium Wing Corkscrew Wine Bottle Opener

What We Love

  • Very affordable
  • Multifunctional
  • Lifetime assurance

What We Don't Love

  • Not very sturdy

A good wine opener doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, and this wing corkscrew by Beneno proves just that. Despite being cheaper than most, this wine opener delivers in terms of reliability and value for money. If you’re simply looking for a simple wine corker to open a bottle of vino for infusing dishes like this grilled chicken breast, then look no further.

The Beneno wing corkscrew is made of 100 percent zinc alloy, so it’s durable and resistant to rust. It’s also equipped with a mechanical gear to keep its parts in place and a sharp screw, ensuring consistent performance each time. You can also use this for beer and other drinks with caps or corks. Each purchase from Beneno is secured with a lifetime assurance, including replacement and refund for defective products.

Best Rabbit Wine Opener: Holleringlan Wine Bottle Opener Corkscrew Set

What We Love

  • Comes with a wine aerator, screw, foil cutter, and vacuum wine stopper
  • Ergonomic design
  • Two-year warranty

What We Don't Love

  • Users will learn to navigate its unique design

The rabbit wine opener or rabbit corkscrew may not be as well-known as some of the other types of cork removers. However, it’s easily one of the quickest ways of popping open a bottle of wine. This manual lever model from Holleringlan is efficient without sacrificing performance. It’s also easy on the eye and durable, as it has a polished stainless steel finish. If it’s your first time using this product, you might have to familiarize yourself with how to operate its parts. Don’t worry as using it is a breeze once you get the hang of it!

This model effortlessly removes a cork in seconds, and it also comes with a few extra accessories to further elevate the aroma and flavors of your drink. It comes with a foil cutter to cut through the wrapper on the cork, a screw, a wine aerator for your opened bottle, as well as a vacuum wine stopper that you can use to close the bottle.

Best Portable: Chef Craft Waiters Corkscrew

What We Love

  • Built-in foil cutter
  • Dishwasher safe
  • Inexpensive

What We Don't Love

  • Requires more effort

Sometimes, it’s more convenient to have a wine bottle opener wherever you go. This wine key model from Chef Craft is the perfect tool for that since it’s foldable and it doesn’t take up much space. It has a built-in foil cutter, so you’ll have all your essentials in one nifty package. This space-saving product is especially suitable for small kitchens and outdoor dining activities like picnics.

The only downside to this type of wine opener is it requires a bit more effort to uncork a bottle. It’s a price worth paying for if it means that you can carry it around with you. To help ease the uncorking experience, this Chef Craft wine key is built with a two-step construction and it comes with a sharp screw. To clean, you can either opt to handwash it or place it on the top rack of your dishwasher.

Best Lever: OXO Steel Vertical Lever Corkscrew With Removable Foil Cutter

What We Love

  • User-friendly
  • Convenient foil cutter storage
  • Comes with an extra nonstick screw

What We Don't Love

  • A bit pricey

This wine opener from OXO works similar to a traditional rabbit type, but its modern design is easier to navigate. First, remove the foil wrapper on the bottle with the built-in foil cutter on this product. Then, pull the lever up and insert the wine opener on top of the wine bottle. Hold the opener in place with one hand, and crank the lever down to safely and effortlessly remove any natural or synthetic cork.

The high-performing OXO Vertical Lever Corkscrew is made of reliable die-cast zinc, and it’s designed with a non-slip grip for comfort. To release the cork, all you have to do is pump the lever, and it will easily slide off of this tool’s non-slip screw. With this technology, you can now infuse your wild chanterelle cream sauce with white wine anytime you wish.

Best Wing Corkscrew: IPOW Wing Corkscrew

What We Love

  • Multifunctional
  • Compatible with other corked bottles
  • Ergonomic handles

What We Don't Love

  • Requires more effort
  • Not very sturdy

Compared to rabbit wine openers which are built with one lever each, wing corkscrews are designed to have two levers on opposite sides of the screw. To use this model by IPOW, you have to position the corkscrew on top of the bottle first. Then, slowly sink the screw into the cork by twisting the handle on top that doubles as a beer cap opener. When the two levers are raised completely, press them down together to pop out the cork. It’s suitable to use for most bottled products with corks, like olive oil. This tool will come in handy for making this beef brisket that calls for both olive oil and dry red wine. 

The IPOW Wing Corkscrew wine bottle opener is built with a durable and rust-proof zinc alloy for better performance. It’s also designed with ergonomic handles with a non-slip rubber grip for comfort. With its sleek and elegant feel, this product is the best wine bottle opener to have for fancy table spreads.

Best Gift Set: Ivation Wine Gift Set

What We Love

  • Comes with a wine aerator, electric vacuum wine preserver, two bottle stoppers, a foil cutter, and a charging base
  • Easy-to-use
  • Long-lasting battery

What We Don't Love

  • Plastic material
  • Bulky

This gifting collection by Ivation is the best wine opener set to get for yourself or your loved ones. The easy-to-use automatic wine opener comes with an electric preserver to keep your vino fresh for a longer time. The aerator that comes with it is also very useful for pouring and enhancing the aroma of the beverage. Other wine accessories included in this set include a foil cutter and two wine stoppers for resealing opened bottles.

Similar to most electric wine openers, the one included in this set can uncork up to 30 bottles on a single charge. To keep the parts of this set at bay, you can easily organize them on the convenient charging base.

Best Ah-So Wine Opener: Belwares Ah-So Wine Opener

What We Love

  • Replaceable and refundable
  • Multipurpose
  • Portable

What We Don't Love

  • Requires more effort

An Ah-So wine opener is a type of two-prong cork remover. It’s the best tool to use for keeping fragile corks of old wine bottles intact. Insert the prongs inside the bottle of wine or champagne on opposite sides of the cork, and simply pull it upward until the stopper pops. Ah-So is the ideal choice for preserving the complete essence of vintage wines.  

The Belwares Ah-So wine opener is built with a high-quality and corrosion-resistant stainless steel material, so it can last longer than most. The handle of this product also conveniently doubles as an opener for beer, soda, and other bottled drinks. It comes with a sleek case and a small box for gifting. With its portable size, you can carry it with you for traveling and use it to uncork red wine to drink or to stir into dishes like this elegant crock pot roast.

Best Air Pump: Wine Ziz Wine Opener With Foil Cutter Gift Set

What We Love

  • Portable
  • Easy-to-use
  • Affordable with a money-back guarantee
  • Comes in eight colors: black, bright violet, bright white, golden kiwi, lettuce green, maui blue, salmon buff, woodrose

What We Don't Love

  • Users will have to observe additional safety measures to keep damaged bottles from exploding

The Wine Ziz portable air pump easily uncorks a bottle of wine with no additional gas needed. Compared to traditional corkscrews that are used to drill holes into the stoppers, this works by having a single needle penetrate the cork. Simply pump on the tool to suck the stopper out until the bottle pops. It’s efficient and it doesn’t leave behind broken pieces. Although, additional precautions have to be taken upon using this air pump as damaged bottles may explode. To avoid this, we highly advise placing the bottle in a wine protective bag before trying to remove the stopper.

Whip up this refreshing sauteed zucchini recipe with dry white wine that you can uncork hassle-free at any given time. This air pump wine opener is available in eight different colors, and it comes with a blade foil cutter as well.

Best Waiter's Corkscrew: Waiters Corkscrew by HiCoup

What We Love

  • Portable
  • Multifunctional
  • Ergonomic Handle
  • Available in 21 varieties

What We Don't Love

  • Requires more effort
  • Greater risk for breaking the cork.

In terms of classic wine keys, this waiter’s corkscrew by HiCoup takes the top spot. It’s the number one best-selling item on Amazon for Waiter Corkscrews with positive reviews to boot. This wine key is built with a straightforward, no-nonsense design for good value. It’s built with durable 420 stainless steel material with a comfortable wooden handle.

The HiCoup wine key is a portable and multifunctional tool. The additional wine accessories included in this product are a heavy-duty steel screw, a built-in beer bottle opener, and a serrated knife for cutting open foil wrappers. For easier uncorking, it’s designed with a double-hinged fulcrum that works even on longer corks. You’ll have no problem recreating this wine-infused mussels recipe with this tool at your disposal.

Best Preserver: Coravin Model Two Premium

What We Love

  • Comes with two argon capsules
  • Luxurious
  • High-quality

What We Don't Love

  • Pricier than other wine openers

This high-end wine preserver with metallic accents and a textured rubber grip is ideal for luxury wines. With this tool, you’ll be able to access the contents of your vintage wine bottle without having to pop it open. In essence, it preserves the freshness of the liquid by minimizing its contact with air. To use it, you have to push a small Teflon-coated needle through the cork, and the wine will pass through it upon tilting the bottle. When you remove the needle, the cork will seal naturally, keeping the vino in pristine condition.

Each Coravin wine opener comes with two free capsules filled with 99.99 percent argon, a type of gas used in wine bottling that acts as a protective layer in between the wine and oxygen. It’s used to keep the drink from breaking down and oxidizing (which would ruin its quality). Simply insert one of the capsules into the load cell of the preserver before using it, to ensure that the argon in your bottle remains at an optimal level. You’ll be able to pour up to 15 five-ounce glasses of wine using each capsule.

READ ALSO: Sweet Wines: All About Its Types & Best Brands To Try

How to Choose a Wine Opener

Wine opener, wine, bread, grapes, cheeses, and candles

With the different types of high-quality and top-performing wine openers available, figuring out which one to pick can be pretty difficult. Here are some tips that you can use to help navigate your decision:

Electric or Manual

Wine bottle openers are available in electric and manual types.

For a more traditional route, you can either opt for a wine key, lever-type, or wing corkscrew. These are generally cheaper and more portable than the more modern types, but you’ll have to exert more effort to successfully pop the bottle open. If you want a manual opener with a modern design, go for an air pump or wine preserver (although this tends to be more expensive).

An electric wine opener is the best choice for those who struggle with limited hand movement caused by factors like aging and arthritis, as it requires little to no effort on the user’s part. These tend to be bulky and you have to recharge them from time to time.  

READ ALSO: 14 Types of Sweet Red Wine Perfect for Special Occasions

Ease of Use

Specialized wine openers, such as the Ah-So, can be more difficult to use than others. This is the reason why they’re mostly patronized by sommeliers and wine enthusiasts, but aren’t recommended for beginners. Wine keys require a bit more effort compared to levers, winged corkscrews, and air pumps. Electric openers, on the other hand, tend to be the most effortless of them all.

Durability

It’s best to buy a wine bottle opener made of heavy-duty materials, as this would be more practical in the long run. Go for those that are made of stainless steel and zinc alloy, since they are generally sturdy and rust-proof. The screw or worm also has to be made of good material, and those with a nonstick coating offer a more seamless cork release.

Flexibility

We highly recommend getting a wine opener that’s compatible with most wine bottle sizes as this will save you space and money. Some models are also available with other functions such as bottle cap openers and built-in serrated knives or foil cutters.

Want to discuss the best wine openers for your home bar? Join the conversation in the Kitchen Equipment forum section and share your experiences with different types of corkscrews and wine openers.

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Kaye

Kaye is a writer and a recent oat milk convert. With a background in Language Studies, she has founded a deep appreciation of cultures, traditions, and the power of words. In her spare time, she enjoys testing some of the trendiest and most accessible recipes on the internet.