7 Ways To Open A Wine Bottle Without An Opener

There is nothing worse than sitting down to enjoy a thoughtfully picked bottle of wine with friends or family, only to realize you’ve forgotten a corkscrew. Sad as it may seem, it has happened to all of us. Thankfully, there is more than one way to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew. To figure out the best way to do so, we called the internet’s favorite grandmother, Barbara Costello, to share her favorite hacks. Costello, known online as Brunch With Babs, admits she has even found herself hosting a party without a corkscrew.

“At one party I was throwing we had two wine openers that guests broke,” Costello, who has grown a social following of more than seven million, and is the author of Celebrate With Babs, says. “It has never happened before then. I ended up pushing the cork in and we continued on without any interruption.”

With so many viral methods for opening a bottle of wine floating around the internet, we wanted to get to the bottom of what works, what doesn’t, and what Costello has tried. Whatever you do, please be careful using each method.

Meet The Expert

Barbara Costello, known online as Brunch With Babs is the author of Celebrate With Babs

Related: The Best Summer Wines for Sipping Outside, According to Southern Sommeliers

Push The Cork Into The Bottle

It's possible to push the cork into the bottle to release the wine.

The Hack: Using the handle of a cooking spoon, push the cork downward into the bottle. Unfortunately, if you use this method, it will be nearly impossible to get the cork back out and older corks may disintegrate into tiny pieces in the wine. If you are sharing the bottle with a crowd, retrieving the cork may not be an issue and any crumbling cork issues can be mitigated by straining the wine before serving.

Costello says: “I would say this is the safest way to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew. You could also use a toothbrush if you don’t have a wooden cooking spoon.”

Use A Shoe

It's true, you can open a bottle of wine with a shoe, it just may take some time and not all shoes are created equally. Sneakers and high heels should be avoided.

The Hack: Before beginning, remove the foil from the top of the wine bottle so the cork is exposed. Place the bottom of the. bottle of wine into the empty heel of the shoe so that the cork end faces up and the bottle fits snugly. While holding the neck of the wine bottle, hit the heel of the shoe against a hard surface, like a brick exterior wall. In theory, the force of the banging will travel through the liquid wine and dislodge the cork.

Costello says: “This might work with patience. But be careful of your wine bottle cracking.”

Try A Screw And Hammer

The Hack: Using the same concept as a corkscrew, a screw and hammer can pull the cork out seamlessly. Take the longest screw you can find and screw it into the cork. Then, take the back of a hammer and slide it under the screw until secure. Gently pull the cork from the bottle using an upward motion.

Costello says: “This one works, but be warned it can be difficult.”

Open With A Key

The Hack: This concept uses the same logic as a corkscrew to remove a wine cork. In theory, you can hold a sharp key at a 45-degree angle and drive it into a cork. Once firmly lodged into the cork, use the leverage of the key to pop out the cork.

Costello says: “This one did not work for me.” (She noted that she used a standard sized house key.) “But it could potentially work if you had a longer key available.”

Pry It With Tweezers

This method may work, but your tweezers will likely be ruined, so proceed with that knowledge.

The Hack: Using a pair of tweezers, put one prong on either side of the cork and gently press down until the tweezers are halfway down alongside the cork. From there, squeeze the tweezers tightly as you pull up.

Pump it Out

The Hack: Anyone with a bike pump nearby can benefit from this tip. Place the needle of the pump through the cork into the pocket of air between the wine and the cork and begin pumping. The air pressure should slowly release the cork from the bottle.

Pull It With A Hanger

The Hack: If you have wire hangers sitting around, grab one for this wine opening hack. To make this work, you’ll need to bend the hook of the hanger so that it looks like a fishing hook. Next, wiggle the metal down alongside the cork until it reaches the air pocket between the wine and the cork. Then, position the metal so that the “hook” part goes into the cork. Pull up slowly to release the cork.

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