The Durand Dupe
$34.99 Instead of $145

Sixty seconds is all it takes to understand why every sommelier who opens old bottles owns one of these.

Dear Artisans,

If you have ever pulled the cork on a 1985 and watched it crumble into the wine, you already know why this tool exists. Old corks lose their grip. A standard corkscrew pushes straight through the middle and the cork falls apart. What you need is something that grips the cork from the outside while it lifts from the inside.

That is what The Durand does, and it is why it has been the standard in serious cellars for twenty years. It is also $145.

Glasvin built the same idea into one tool: a helix that goes down the centre and twin blades that slide between cork and glass. You screw, you work the blades down, you twist and lift. The cork comes out in one piece. We have been using it on the old bottles we open in the shop and it has not failed us yet.

At $34.99, it costs less than a quarter of the Durand. That changes what you do with it.

If you can use a waiter’s friend you can use this. The only new habit is rocking the two blades down alternately instead of forcing them.

This is the gift for the wine person who already owns everything, and at $34.99 you can hand out several without thinking about it. Buy one for the house, one for the cabin, one for the office, one for your brother-in-law who keeps ruining your old Bordeaux.

And the practical reason to own more than one: you can stop packing it. Blades do not fly carry-on, and nobody wants to check a bag over a corkscrew. Leave one wherever you drink and the problem disappears.

Chile’s first ultra-premium Syrah, grown on slopes above 45 degrees where the vines yield about a ton and a half to the acre. Eighteen months in new French oak, 15.8% alcohol, and somehow still balanced. Suckling called it the benchmark for South American Syrah and gave it 97 points.

One of the first single-vineyard Brunellos ever made, and still the reference for the category. Vincenzo Abbruzzese farms without chemical pesticides and ages in cask. At seventeen years old this is the bottle on the list where the opener earns its price back in one pull.

A Second Growth in all but name, from the plot that sits right against Latour. 2013 was a hard year in Bordeaux and Las Cases made one of its best wines anyway: 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% alcohol, built on structure rather than weight. Neal Martin called it one of the best Medocs of a difficult vintage.

The most singular red wine on earth, and the one bottle here most likely to test a cork. An equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan from the Bekaa, blended in 2015 and bottled that summer. Dark burgundy, matured stone fruit, plum and fig, liquorice and spice, with mocha and leather behind. Musar rewards patience like nothing else in the shop.

Mountain Syrah from Mount Veeder, where the rugged conditions and thin soils give small berries and a lot of flavour. Winemaker Tim Milos built this one on balance rather than power: bright and savoury, spicy and meaty, with the sweet-savoury edge good Syrah always carries. The sleeper of the group and the easiest yes at under fifty dollars.

There is no argument to make here. If you open bottles with more than fifteen years on them, you need this kind of opener, and until now it cost $145. Now it costs $34.99. Buy one, buy four, put them where you drink.

We have 40 units. When they are gone I do not know when the next batch lands, so if you have been meaning to solve this problem, solve it today. And take $10 off any of the five reds above while you are at it.

Cheers,