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A Big Chunk of Cork.

Posted: 19:23 Fri 22 Jun 2007
by Conky
Your in a Hotel room and your decanting your prize bottle. Being a tad clumsy, you only get two thirds of the Cork out and the last third drops in the bottle!
So you've strained your Port into the container, and its gorgeous, smiling at you. You want to decant it back into the bottle because a plastic tupperware jug has no credibility!

How do you get the last chunk of Cork out???

I've spent many funfilled hours jabbing all forms of knives, make-up appliances, coat hangers, etc,etc.
Someone's gonna really bug me now and tell me a solution that was under my nose all the time...aren't you?

Alan

Posted: 22:03 Fri 22 Jun 2007
by DRT
I never let the cork drop back into the bottle :P

Seriously, if you are left with the bottom portion left in the bottle neck you can normally extract it in one of more pieces using a spare helix from a rabbit. It is better to remove as much as you can this way and shatter what remains of the cork before it drops into the wine. You can then filter out the bits and the bottle can co re-used as there will be no pieces of cork large enough to jam in the neck when decanting/rinsing.

Just practice :wink:

Derek

Posted: 22:06 Fri 22 Jun 2007
by KillerB
you can normally extract it in one of more pieces using a spare helix from a rabbit.
You do realise what this means for the bunny population of the North West, don't you?

Posted: 22:18 Fri 22 Jun 2007
by DRT
Nice one :lol: :lol: :lol:

Certainly funnier than any of the Meaningless Drivel I have read tonight :wink:

Derek

Posted: 22:30 Fri 22 Jun 2007
by KillerB
I could have gone in a different direction, along the lines of Sex and the City but I thought better of it.

Posted: 09:47 Sat 23 Jun 2007
by Conky
Ok, you appear to have given me a solution. And thanks for that!
Unfortunately you are dealing with someone who associates Rabbits with Fluffy things, or what Alex discretely refered to. Either of which dont fit conveniently down the neck of a Port Bottle!
So what do you mean when you say 'The Spare Helix of a Rabbit!'

Alan

Posted: 09:53 Sat 23 Jun 2007
by DRT
A rabbit corkscrew is something you see quite frequently now in supermarkets and Men's Christmas Gifts in Next and Debenhams. It's the one with the two handles that grab the top of the bottle and then a third handle which act as a lever it insert a screw (helix) when you pull it down and remove the cork when you pull the lever back up again.

The helix (screw) can normaly be removed, or it may contain a spare one, which you can use to delicately remove or destroy the remaining cork.

Derek

PS: I'm making an assumption here that you know what a screw is :?

Posted: 10:03 Sat 23 Jun 2007
by Conky
And suddenly the Fog lifted....and all around was clear!

Thanks Derek. (Dont know why you couldn't speak English in the first place, mind! :D )

Alan

Posted: 22:50 Mon 25 Jun 2007
by Conky
That ploy of usng the spare Helix extracated the third of a Cork I left in te Morgans last night. Life saver! The reason I had a spare Helix was that I have a Tala Profssonal Corkscrew kit. This seemed to be the 'Rabbit' that was spoken of. Couldn' find the Fluffy ears mind. Maybe they're in the Delux set.

Alan

Posted: 22:55 Mon 25 Jun 2007
by DRT
It works better if you wear the fluffy ears whilst extracting the cork - you should get some 88)

Derek

Posted: 16:02 Tue 26 Jun 2007
by Luc
My 3 yr old son's name is FĂ©lix , next time I partialy remove cork , I'll give him a try . . . :?

Posted: 00:33 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by Alex Bridgeman
The only other hint that I can add is that if the bottom of the cork actually falls into the wine then the only solution that I have found that works is a three stage affair:

(1) decant the wine as normal but just be alert to the rogue piece of cork forming a temporary blockage that suddenly shifts and spurts port all over your Gran's nice, white, lace table cloth.

(2) rinse the bottle out with water as normal, shaking particularly vigorously in the hope that vigorous shaking will break the lump of cork into tiny pieces. (If it does then just rinse them out and skip stage 3.)

(3) Fill the bottle with water right up to the brim to force the rogue piece of cork to float right into the neck of the bottle. Then use whatever implement is to hand (helix, teaspoon or teaspoon handle or - in one case of dire emergency - sharpened Japanese chopstick) to break the cork into little pieces and force it out of the bottle.

Then you can decant back into the bottle and thank your lucky stars that you do not have to serve your Taylor 1927 in your Gran's tupperware jug.

Alex

Posted: 09:47 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by KillerB
Isthere any specific reason why it should be a Japanese chop-stick? I only have Chinese and Thai ones, so I feel that I would be using he wrong tools.

Posted: 09:57 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by DRT
Japanese goes particularly well with the Taylor 27

Derek

Posted: 11:36 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by Alex Bridgeman
KillerB wrote:Isthere any specific reason why it should be a Japanese chop-stick? I only have Chinese and Thai ones, so I feel that I would be using he wrong tools.
Nothing wrong with Chinese or Thai chopsticks. I did say that the important criteria was that you should use "whatever implement is to hand ". If that happens to be a Thai chopstick then I'm sure my method would work, although you may still have to sharpen the chopstick.

Alex

Posted: 17:10 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by Conky
Chopsticks and Helix!!! Rubbish.

What you need is a Drunk at my Club, with a hankerchief. Let me explain. I was talking about the geeky things we talk of on this site. When I mentioned this cork problem, he said 'You just need a hanky'. I ignored him, but he got a bottle, rammed a cork in the bottle and then proceded to pull it out with his hanky.
Now before you think I've been on the magic mushrooms, a few of the other lads confirmed this was an old and popular trick. So I came home and googled it.

So Gentlemen, for your perusal. The definitive way of removing a large chunk of Cork or even a full one, from an empty bottle, is here

Note he uses a plastic bag, but I can assure you, a hanky with no blowing does the same job.

Case closed. :lol: :shock: :lol:

Alan.

Posted: 21:12 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by Alex Bridgeman
Well I watched and I learnt. Thanks for that link Alan. I shall grab an empty bottle and a spare cork and try it for myself tomorrow night.

Alex

Posted: 21:31 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by Andy Velebil
WOW! I didn't know it was that easy..I will have to try it for myself. Thanks Alan

Cork removal

Posted: 21:32 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by jdaw1
Agreed. An excellent and most useful video.

Posted: 22:32 Sun 08 Jul 2007
by DRT
I haven't watched the video - I'm still in shock that Conky has come up with something usefull :lol: :lol:

Derek

Posted: 22:39 Fri 07 Mar 2008
by Conky
ADV wrote:WOW! I didn't know it was that easy..I will have to try it for myself. Thanks Alan
Andy,

Good to see you found it again. :wink: :D

Alan

Posted: 18:25 Sat 08 Mar 2008
by Andy Velebil
Darn straight, and it worked like a charm :D

Posted: 15:10 Wed 12 Mar 2008
by Ghandih
Conky,

I was thinking Julian had sent me the solution, and then you posted the video yourself (or an analogous one). That's dead clever, isn't it?

Has anyone tried it yet? I'm tempted to crack a bottle tonight just to try...


Gahndih

Posted: 16:46 Wed 12 Mar 2008
by DRT
Ghandih wrote:Has anyone tried it yet?
With my own eyes I have seen Julian do this twice. I think Conky told me that he has also done it.

It is very clever.

Derek

Posted: 21:34 Wed 12 Mar 2008
by uncle tom
OK, now for the bleedin' obvious...

- You've decanted the bottle, but have left a big chunk of cork inside.

- You want to put the wine back into the bottle, as taking a decanter on the bus is a bit awkward.

- So you put some water in the bottle and give it a big shake to free off the old sediment. you drain it off and repeat the exercise, yet that pesky lump of cork stays inside.

- You put a teensy drop of wine in the bottle to flush the last of the water from rinsing. Still that lump stays put.

- So what to do?




-?




- ??




- ???




- ????




- ?????




- ??????




- ???????




- ?????????








- LEAVE IT WHERE IT IS!





If it won't come out now, it won't come out later, and as it's been soaked in the wine for umpteen years it's hardly likely to do it any harm!!




Tom :D :D :D