Customer Reviews

Metrokane Rabbit Wine Opener Tool Kit, Silver

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I bought the Metrokane Rabbit as a Christmas gift for my parents and it has since become the most indispensible item in our kitchen. We drink wine every night in our house, and have been through many a corkscrew, but absolutely nothing compares to this. The Rabbit makes short work of opening a bottle of wine for even the puniest-armed of us, and indeed, has caused one or two scuffles at dinner over who gets to open the next bottle of wine! Three swift, smooth movements will open even the most stubborn bottle, and with none of the grunting, puffing and red-faced struggling that often accompanies this manouvre. There is a particular brand of white wine I drink that is next to impossible to open if you have left the bottle to chill with the cork in it, and I actually broke 3 "traditional" corkscrews trying to open one single bottle of this. Well, in the highest praise I can summon for the Rabbit, I have not had a problem with one of these bottles since I bought it. If you are a wine-drinker, or even just a lover of gadgets, buy this - now!

I've been using these Metrokanes for several years now and I wouldn't want to use anything else. They make absolutely anyone look like a pro opening a bottle of wine, while of course at the same time avoiding the occasional broken cork plunged into the bottle horror.
Whenever we have guests, they always comment on the Metrokane, and as a result I've found it makes a perfect gift. In particular, this silver model is extremely attractive.

I bought both this and the similar version from Brookstone this year. I was expecting a lot from the metrokane, but it turns out the Brookstone is much better. It's $60, but the Brookstone version will last you MUCH longer than the $45 metrokane.

Among the differences: The metrokane is made of plastic, the Brookstone is metal. The Brookstone model comes with two bottle sealers, and it's case is made of very high quality leather-like material instead of cheap plastic. Finally, my metrokane is brand new, and I've already managed to scratch the finish, since it's so cheap.

If you're looking to get a new wine opener, do yourself a favor and BUY ANOTHER BRAND.

... I got the corkscrew as a present. It stopped working after just a few months of use. The manufacturer's literature says that the product has a 2 year warranty, yet for more than two (2!) months I have been leaving messages for their service/repair folks and nobody bothers to return phone calls! In fact, I have never been able to speak with anyone at that company (other phone options include sales, accounting, and a few more). What is going on with these people? Maybe this product is so bad that they are flooded with repair calls and they do not bother to call hoping that people will just say "forget it" and go away. Would have given them a negative rating if available!!

If you are looking for a well functioning opener, this is not it! Much better "rabbit" type openers are on the market. First is the fact that it is mostly plastic, not metal, so don't be fooled by the metallic appearance in the photo. When opening the first bottle, (with normal cork). I noticed it was much more difficult to use than the old one (other brand) I had. It required extensive pressure to insert the cork, to the point I thought the flimsy plastic handles would break. Then I opened a second bottle with a plastic cork. This almost broke the opener when using upward pressure to remove the cork from the bottle. And after finally getting the cork out of the bottle, (it took two people), the cork would not come off of the screw. I had to manually untwist the cork from the opener. Save your money, spend a little more and get a real opener. This one is nice to look at but not functional! Real Junk, and not cheap!!

Don't waste your time on this company.

My first Rabbit had a plastic handle. When it broke after several years of use, I replaced it with a metal handle Rabbit because it had 10-year warrantee. (I think the first one had a 2-year warrantee.)

The new Rabbit malfunctioned. A mission-critical piece of rubber tore, making the Rabbit useless. I sent the Rabbit to Metrokane per the package instructions. (I paid the postage and also had to enclose a check to cover *their* mailing costs.)

A week or so later, my Rabbit was returned to me without any repairs. Their note said that they couldn't find anything wrong with the thing. I phoned Metrokane to complain. They said that the rubber was not covered by the warrantee. I was told to get rubber glue to fix the thing. I checked the warrantee. Nowhere does it say that certain parts are not covered. Finally they agreed to replace it.

The replacement was defective. The Metrokane rep. copped an attitude when I complained, saying that I was probably using it incorrectly. (Remember, I'd owned a Rabbit and had used it for years, so I'm sure I knew how to use it.)

The company wouldn't send another Rabbit and I refused to spend more money to return the second defective product. I'm using a $10 knock-off now. It works every time.

I could *not* believe my eyes the first time I saw someone use a Rabbit. I've shredded SO many corks and even broken bottles trying to get corks out. I've tried so many different kinds of corkscrews (and the two-pronged non-screw-type cork-pullers), and I've been all kinds of frustrated. I'm a big and strong guy, and I've still been frustrated at how hard some corkscrews are to use.
Enter the Rabbit. It's hard to visualize from the picture, but it is SUPER-EASY, once you figure it out.
1) Flip the top over, away from the cork, raising the screw (sometimes called the "worm")
2) Place the two handles on either side of the bottle-neck, positioning the tip of the worm over the cork.
3) Squeeze the handles together to hold the bottle.
4) Bring the top handle up and over, which pushes the worm into the cork -- so easy you can't believe it.
5) Take the top handle back to where it started, and the cork is out! No muss, no fuss, no cuss!

They say removing the cork from the worm is just as easy, but it's not quite. The method for this is:
6) Bring the top handle back over, as if to put the cork back in the bottle, only without the bottle there.
7) Squeeze the side handles around/on the cork.
8) Bring the top handle back away to remove the worm, while holding the cork with the side handles.
That works, but the side handles don't always squeeze tight enough to hold the cork there.

Okay, the ad says "3 seconds". I put closer to ten seconds, plus five more to remove the cork (if it grips right), or 30 seconds more if it doesn't grip the cork to remove it. Still, this is the easiest and best corkscrew I've ever used, and I'd say it's WELL worth the price. The "gift set" is nice, but personally, I don't think it's worth the extra price compared to just the Rabbit without the gift set. I do, however, recommend the Metrokane "Save-the-Wine" Vacuum Pump.

Oh, one more thing -- I've heard it doesn't work well on the new plastic-style "corks", but I haven't tried it.

We received this wine set as a gift 2 years ago and loved it. We used it so much (several times a week) that we actually snapped the handle off, though I don't believe it was due to poor product quality, but instead because we opened thousands of bottles with it and it was bound to give. We liked it so much that we bought the same exact one when it broke. I only gave 4 stars because, of course, it did break. But other than that, it is definitely a good purchase.

I purchased three of these as gifts this summer, and one for myself.
It is made of plastic, and works correctly one of 4 times. The little screw on cap which makes it function pops off routinely-very poorly engineered and made.

I purchased the Metrokane Gift Set for my husband who has always struggled opening wine bottles. You have no idea how easy this corkscrew is to use, no more pieces of cork in the wine and 1-2-3 the cork pulls right out without having to strain or pull a muscle!.. It's about time someone came out with a great gadget such as this one! Thank you Metrokane!