The Wine Bottle

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to enjoy a bit of a boozy weekend in Dublin. My other half had been invited over by one of the suppliers his firm does business with.  Everything was paid for and all we had to do was get ourselves to the airport for our flight to Dublin.

We were met at the airport by our host and he swiftly whisked us off to his house so we could unpack.  You should have seen my face when I saw the size of his house – it was massive.  The house had everything you have always dreamed of – a tennis court, an indoor swimming pool and sauna a gym and a home cinema.

Waiting for us in his kitchen was some beautiful Australian wine, nicely chilled in a wine cooler and bottle openers all ready to go.

Our host was a real wine buff and has his own wine rack down in his cellar. He imports a lot of wine from Australia and was explaining that the cellar has to be kept at just the right temperature, which is quite difficult at times.  He went on to say that if conditions aren’t correct, then that’s when problems can happen.  One example he was telling us about was if the humidity is too high then this will make the corks dry out and this in turn allows air to get into the bottle and oxidise the wine, which would of course be disastrous.

After we had finished our drinks we were off for a night in the Temple Bar area. We had a brilliant night and the Irish are so friendly.  Nothing is too much trouble and they are really genuine people.  Hubby was in his element knocking back his pints of Guinness.  I think the next morning through he was wishing he hadn’t drunk quite so much.

We had a brilliant weekend and it is certainly something I would love to do again.  Next time though maybe we might need to lay off the alcohol just a little bit!

There’s nothing better than a cold larger or beer on a hot summer day or a nice chilled one to wash down a curry.  Many people also seem to prefer lagers and bottled beers rather than wines with their Christmas dinner.  Easy to use beer bottle openers are of course essential to gaining access to the chilled liquid within and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

There’s the simple classic bottle opener that resembles a key and in some senses it is a key to the golden goodness inside.These range from the basic cap poppers on a Swiss Army Knife to heavy duty jobs with solid Sterling Silver rod handles.Cheap cast metal versions do the job for a while, but don’t underestimate the sheer force required to pop a bottle cap.  Cheaper ones tend to go to pieces after a while.

More sophisticated versions include CellarDine’s ZapCap, which isn’t the most compact unit in the world, but is certainly effective.There’s even a magnet which holds the removed caps in place for neat disposal. You simply place it over the neck of a bottle and with just a gentle push removes the cap with a minimum of effort and fuss.   ZapCap works on metal pop off and twist off caps and is a must have gadget for Christmas, along with the appropriate glassware for the lager of your choice.

But what if you are stuck without any of these excellent bottle openers to hand?How do you gain access to that well deserved brew?Best tip is, buy a bottle opener and don’t lose it!  Keep one handy at all times by the wine rack – in fact buy a wine rack just so you can keep a bottle opener next to it!In extremis however, try these emergency options that use everyday objects to crack off that bottle cap without breaking glass or ruining your expensive dental work (they should work with pop off caps, but twist off caps will probably need a bottle opener or brute force and sound teeth).

Provided you’re not a “yoof” with your jeans at half mast, your belt buckle can function as a bottle opener.Good idea to take off your belt first though.You don’t want to try any sudden motions with glass in that area of your body.f you have a plastic lighter, prop the bottom of it (not the metal top) against the cap’s edge.Push up on the cap with the edge of the lighter and it should at least make it loose, if not completely pop it off. If you have keys, use one that can wedge between the cap and the bottle’s neck.  Twist the key under the cap and repeat the process until you get halfway around the cap. You should be able to simply grip the cap and twist it off, although you may never be able to get in your front door again.