Customer Reviews

Screwpull Revolutionary New Lever Pull, Satin with Crystal Foil Cutter

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The easiest, most efficient and least space consuming corkscrew I have ever used. I have used the Rabbit, the Screwpull Elegance and numerous others and, although they are good, none compares to the LM-400.

The LM-400 is the best corkscrew I've ever owned, and I've owned a number of other Screwpulls, Rabbits, and traditional corkscrews. It's superbly smooth and very effective - a 270 degree flip of the lever drives the screw, back the other way removes the cork, repeat to remove the cork from the screw. It's quite heavy, and feels great in your hand and on the bottle. My wife and I have a disagreement as to whether it's worth $150, but I'm certainly convinced!

So why did I give it only four stars?

There's a problem - if someone leaves a cork on the screw (doesn't do the second lever flip) the cork is up inside the body of the corkscrew and you can't see it. If someone else comes along, doesn't realize there's a cork on the screw, and tries to open another bottle, he or she can bend or damage two small pins on the upper end of the screw. Do this a few times and the corkscrew won't work without a new screw.

Simple you say - just put in a new screw! After all, it's really easy to do on the other lever Screwpulls. Well, on this one, there's a retaining cap down inside the body that must be removed to get the screw out, and it's requires a lot of fiddling with a long screwdriver to get it back in. And that's after you get a replacement screw! The one listed here (Screwpull part number LM-000) is NOT the right screw, and won't work with the LM-400 (I ordered it - I know). The proper one is Screwpull LM-001, which I could order from only one domestic website, and it took almost a month. Europe seems to be much better supplied with replacement parts, however.

So I love the corkscrew, I've finally replaced my damaged screw and everything is wonderful again. But I'm going to check every time from now on to make sure there's not a cork on the screw up in the body!

I bought the LM-400 because I had used the older LM-200 model for many years and it worked great. The old LM-200 started to malfunction, so I 'treated' myself to this newer and what looked like superior corkscrew.

The good news - it gets corks out of bottles very easily, although the LM-400 is very heavy and bulky to use. The bad news - now you have to get the cork out of the corkscrew, and this is where the trouble begins. Getting the cork out involves pushing the lever back so that the cork is at the bottom of the device and then squeezing the black plastic sleeve while pulling the lever up, thus unwinding the cork from the corkscrew. About 20% of the time you can't squeeze hard enough to keep the cork from slipping up the barrel again. The only way to get the cork unscrewed then is to use your fingers or a pair of pliers to stick up the barrel and manually unscrew the cork. This is an unbelievable pain!!

First I thought this was a defect, so I returned the corkscrew to Le Creuset, who owns Screwpull, and they sent me another one. The replacement was even worse, so I sold the LM-400 on eBay for about $100 less than I paid for it. Replaced it with a Vacu vin Winemaster which works much better.

This is by far the best corkscrew I've owned. Other reviews of the same model mention problems if the cork is not removed, but I've not encountered these problems yet, so I give it the full five stars.

The first thing that appeals to me is the beauty of the item. It is like a sculpture. Believe it or not, I love having it just for the pleasure of looking at it when I use it. It even makes me smile when I'm looking for something else and happen upon it by chance.

Second, it has the easiest-to-use action of any corkscrew I've had. I suspect that is because of the length of the lever which probably provides the best leverage avaiable. Its operation is smooth as silk, as is the ejecting action. Also, the manner of placing it on the bottle and squeezing is, in my opinion, easier and more natural than the older "double-wing" method.

If you don't mind spending the money, I recommend this corkscrew without reservation. It is as lovely to use as it is to look at.

This is a very durable, well constructed device.

That being said, for some bottles of wine, it can actually be quite difficult to pull the lever to remove the cork. It can be very easy for the bottle to slip and you can't help but using your legs on the bottle to get better leverage for difficult to pull corks.

In addition to that, last night, I used this device at a dinner party, and it failed on two bottles of wine, with the screw tearing through the corks and the corks remaining in the bottle.

On those two bottles, I used my $20 Zyliss wine opener, which has never failed me. Despite the Screwpull tearing the corks, the Zyliss was still able to remove them with hardly any effort.

Because of the exceptionally high price for this product, and its failure to be a total wine opening solution, I cannot give this more than two stars. Since it does work in many cases and is well constructed, I won't give it a one star rating.

The Zyliss is no longer made, but the Oxo Steel Corkpull (~$25) uses the same design and is just as effective, despite not having as good as a foil cutter as the Zyliss.

This wine opener is expensive, but you probably already know that. If you are reading this review, you might be looking for a top-notch wine opoener. I think this Screwpull is one of the finest wine openers you can get. But, for the money, I don't think the technology of this opener is much different than older Screwpull models or other manufacturers with similar openers. So, my advice: if you have a lot of cash, get this. If you don't, get an older Screwpull model, or better yet, get one of the $10 knock offs that work almost as good. Just my opinion though, of course.

We were given this wine opener 8 years ago as a wedding gift. After opening countless bottles of wine with it (guessing at over 1200), it finally broke. When we contacted the company (Le Creuset) about having it fixed, they said to send it to them and they would fix it, and we should have it back in about 3 weeks. We told them we didn't have a receipt and they said not to worry about it.

It is now three weeks later, and I just opened the return package and saw they sent me a brand new one. Not just the opener, but a new case and foil cutter as well. That is customer service! I can't remember the last time a company stood behind their product to that degree. Kudos to Le Creuset.

I have owned this item for over two years. During that time it has failed completely TWICE. The first time Williams Sonoma replaced without any question. Now that it has failed again, I find that Williams Sonoma no longer carries it and will only give a credit of $50 on a new purchase. It is the worst cork screw I have EVER owned and I wouyld never own another. When I bought it at Williams Sonoma they said that they would warrant it for life. Now they have forgotten that promise and have lost my business forever. DON'T BUY THIS PIECE OF JUNK.

This model works smooth and easy. I love the feel, looks and quality. I bought this opener on sale at Williams-Sonoma for $99.99 in July 2010.

This wine opener is so easy!! I have used Rabbit wine openers but this one is so much easier. And, it has a 10 year warranty. It is also stylish and package in a very nice case. This is well worth the money.