The clip on YouTube from Mirabeau wine showing Stephen Cronk uncorking wine using just his shoe and a wall has been all over my Facebook feed this week.
Mirabeauwine: Opening a bottle of wine without a corkscrew
I’ve been asked several times by my pals – as I’m known to like wine – if I’d like to conduct my own scientific experiment to see if it’s true. I’ve said No.
As a) I’m too bloody clumsy b) I daren’t and c) what a waste of wine if it should go wrong.
So I conducted a bit of journalistic investigation stuff, from the comfort of my settee, drinking wine opened in the normal way (ie quickly).
This is what I’ve found.
Apparently, there is a scientific explanation as to how the wine is opened by that Mirabeau chappie (and several other internet-type people before him) as this post from The Naked Scientists explains.
They say this is how it happens.
1) wine bottle accelerates towards the wall
2) the inertia of the wine makes it want to stay in the same place so it flows towards of the neck end of the bottle (air gap opens up between wine and bottom of bottle).
3) the wine and the bottle are at same speed
4) the bottle hits the wall and almost instantly stops
5) but the wine continues to flow forward (like someone in a car), hits the bottom of the bottle and rebounds, hits the cork and pushes it out a bit
In the old days, my pal Julie and I never had a corkscrew for our Monday night sessions, and we always managed to open a bottle of wine with a door handle and a spoon.
I have no idea how we did it, but when you’re desperate, Human Endeavour always wins over.
That’s how our ancestors discovered chamber pots and fire and stuff.
Just out of interest, doing this piece of investigative journalism, I also found this Wiki link which illustrates other ways of opening wines without a corkscrew.
But I suggest you always have a corkscrew. Saves having to watch a viddie when you need a drink.