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Posted 20 hours ago

Vintage Port Tongs / Opener

£9.7£19.40Clearance
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The waiter’s friend is a favourite among many sommeliers. That is why it is also called a sommelier knife, and others call it a wine key. The tool is reliable and easy to work with, and you have everything you need to open a wine bottle in one product.

To the great benefit of people with reduced strength in their hands, the electric corkscrew is an ingenious thing. They come in various designs, but the concept is the same. Inside a cylinder is a small motor that drives the spiral down through the cork which is pulled up through the spiral. If you are anything like me, you love to open bottles of wine. There are many ways to open a bottle of wine and extract the sweet nectar that lies within. There are many options at your disposal: a corkscrew, an Ah-So, a Champagne Saber,a screw and hammer, and even a shoe to open up a wine bottle. My favorite, however, is the port tong. How Do You Use Port Tongs?For those of you who are really gung-ho and into port, trying to open your next bottle with tongs may be an exciting proposition. However, it is not always easy and if done poorly can ruin your bottle, make a mess, and more importantly, can be quite dangerous! If you are interested regardless, read on. Often very old vintage port wines have very soft and highly delicate corks that are very fragile. Therefore it can be quite a challenge to open a bottle without the cork crumbling into the wine. While this sounds entirely practical, in the world of wine accessories the port tong is a bit like the velvet choker: out of style. This is partly because vintage port isn’t exactly flying off the shelves these days.Are you searching for a good corkscrew but unsure what to look for? Ergonomics is always a wise thing to take into consideration, and a good corkscrew must therefore be with a comfortable grip. There are several details and design solutions that you can choose between. For example, you can get corkscrews such as: Start a hot fire. When we say hot, we mean hot. Let a bunch of wood burn down for a long time so that you have a deep core of glowing hot embers at the base. You need these hot embers to get the tongs hot enough, just holding them in flames is not hot enough. Alternatively, starting a pile of hot charcoal in your barbecue is another good source of heat to heat up your port tongs. A champagne sabre is great for special occasions, such as graduation, anniversaries, birthdays, weddings or the like. It is also a good gift idea for those looking for a little extra something. Port tongs are brilliant for old bottles Corkscrews vary in their style from the classic waiters’ friend, most commonly used in the restaurant environment, to Screwpulls and even ‘The Rabbit’.

Can the wire be partially untwisted, such that it can be threaded through itself before being attached to the handles? That might reduce the rotation torque applied to the bottle.Alright, now that we have that out of the way, here are the details of how tongs are used to open a wine bottle: Initially the tongs must be heated until the tongs are hot and red. This can be done in an open fireplace or over a gas burner. Port tongs were invented in the 18 th century as a way to cleanly decapitate bottles of vintage port whose old corks might otherwise break or disintegrate with the use of a corkscrew.

Not all Port wine styles are sealed with a driven cork, some styles such as Aged Tawny Ports, or Late Bottled Vintage Port use a stopper cork, which allows the wine to be resealed on a number of occasions and easily removed by hand. All Vintage Port wines are closed with a natural cork and therefore need to be neatly opened with a good corkscrew.The secret to opening a bottle of Vintage Port is not simply about the corkscrew, but the manner in which you go about opening the bottle. Do not rush it, gently ease the cork from its position, so as to remove the cork as cleanly and smoothly as possible. Do not worry about a cork snapping, or even crumbling. This will not affect the taste of the wine and any of the unwanted cork that may have fallen into the Port wine, will be removed when it is decanted through a funnel into the decanter. The most widely used corkscrew-type is the winged corkscrew which most of us are familiar with. With the two very characteristic wings that rise into the air like the arms, the appearance is easily recognised. The tongs are intended for use when the cork cannot be removed with a normal corkscrew, such as old corks that would break apart and crumble into the wine. [2] This is more common for high-alcohol fortified wines, such as port: the alcohol acts as a natural preservative, allowing the wine to be aged for decades. The tongs can be used for any type of bottle, but are generally uncommon. [3] Outside of Portugal, they are typically only found in very well-equipped, high-end establishments. [1] Opening a special bottle of Wine or Port? Your best course of action is likely to bypass the cork as it could be compromised and could negatively impact the flavor of the Port. Let’s pay a visit to the outer fringes of the wine accessories world – a sometimes dangerous place where bottle tops are cut off, wine is poured from the ceiling and the glasses hold entire bottles – to find our perfect gift.

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