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How Not to Open a Bottle of Wine

July 29, 2013 by Caroline Eaton 7 Comments

Sometimes you have tough days… and you just need a glass of wine.

The photo sums up the story pretty well…DISASTER.

wineopenBA

This photo was actually our second bottle of wine we opened with the old wooden spoon and paper towel trick. You ask, since we were in the big beautiful city of Buenos Aires why didn’t we just go purchase a wine opener down the street and make our lives much easier.

My answer… I have no idea. Looking back, it seems like the right answer, but at the time… not sure what was going through our heads other than a strong desire for a glass of wine.

The Wooden Spoon Method

Anyways, our first attempt with the wooden spoon method was without the paper towel. Our goal was to push the cork into the bottle, it seemed pretty straightforward. I held the bottle so it didn’t move and Josh used his strength to push the cork into the bottle (#teamwork). What we didn’t plan for was the explosion of red wine everywhere that left our AirBnB apartment looking like a scene from Dexter. The white kitchen counters were covered in red wine as were our clothes. We quickly cleaned up the crime scene, poured ourselves a glass, enjoyed the delicious Malbec and brainstormed how we could clean up the process.

The Wooden Spoon + Paper Towel Method

Of course we learned from our mistake the first time around and improved the method. We added a paper towel, as seen in the photo above. We knew to expect the explosion this time so as I held down the bottle and Josh pushed the cork in, the wine exploded as normal and the paper towel caught all the mess (#perfection). We again poured ourselves a glass and this time proudly drank it feeling accomplished.

That is what travel is all about right? Making do with what you have, figuring it out as you go. We are currently getting a patent for the wooden spoon + paper towel method and hopefully you will be seeing these in a Bed Bath and Beyond near you!

What are extreme ways you have used to open a wine bottle, for those days that you just need a glass of wine?

Filed Under: Eat

Comments

  1. Mary Beth says

    July 30, 2013 at 11:22 pm

    awesome! i am so impressed with this method!

    Reply
  2. Lance | Trips By Lance says

    August 2, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    Very interesting idea. But what if your apartment doesn’t have a wooden spoon?!?!

    Reply
    • Caroline Eaton says

      August 2, 2013 at 5:01 pm

      That will be How To NOT Open a Bottle of Wine Part 2 – stay tuned for the post 🙂

      Reply
  3. Ashley says

    August 11, 2013 at 8:13 am

    This sounds like something that the Mister and I would totally end up doing. Sometimes you need wine faster than wandering to the store and finding a corkscrew. Nothing wrong with that at all.

    Reply
    • Caroline Eaton says

      August 15, 2013 at 7:44 am

      Ha – yes, emergency situations only of course 🙂

      Reply
      • Ashley says

        August 15, 2013 at 8:10 am

        Emergencies are relative when wine is involved…

        Reply
  4. moon says

    February 11, 2019 at 5:50 am

    I really like your trick!

    Reply

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