Testimonials

”The Durand® is invaluable! As a floor sommelier with some older offerings, I haven’t had any corks disintegrate from usage of the Durand®, even some real mules which are notorious for making cork dust (50’s Bordeaux, late 60’s Napa) Thanks for the great product!

Jason CaballeroAdvanced Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers), Lead Sommelier Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak

”I’m a proud owner of The Durand®, and have given a few away as gifts–always well received. I most recently opened a bottle of 1947 Lafite–the cork flawlessly extracted by The Durand®!

Andy BridgeConnétable, Sous-Commanderie d'Indianapolis, Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin and old wine drinker

”There is no question that The Durand® is the only tool to use for opening older wines. You guys definitely need one!

David HamburgerDirector of Special Events, Acker Merrall & Condit

”It has been the most valuable wine tool I have ever used… The Durand® has been so valuable I hope everyone gets one and enjoys it…

AJ McClellanOwner of Roots and Water Fine Wines

”I have opened hundreds of bottles flawlessly with The Durand®. Typical issues of problem cork removal are eliminated with The Durand’s® unique ability to stabilize the cork during extraction, eliminating side tension, the primary cause of cork fracture and breakage. It is a “must-have” tool for the wine enthusiast and Sommelier to avoid cork removal issues.

I give The Durand® my highest recommendation.

Jack RubynChairman, International Wine & Food Society, Haskell Norman Branch, Marin County California

”My advice is to keep your Durand® handy when you want to make absolutely positive that the cork comes out clean. For my 50th birthday, we had a serious line-up, and The Durand® helped us open every one without an issue. Spectacular performance, spectacular wines. The most venerable of them: Saint-Julien 1920, Château Gruaud Larose, Saint-Julien 1924, Château Léoville-Las Cases, Pauillac 1924, Château Pontet Canet.

Charles CurtisMaster of Wine

”At the American Wine Society National Conference Nov. 7-9, we had a vertical tasting of Faustino Gran Reserva Rioja back to 1964. The presenter brought his Durand and it opened the ’64, ’70, ’82 and ’00 Faustino’s without a single broken cork. The picture shows him holding the unbroken cork from the ’64 with The Durand nearby.

John HamesExecutive Director, American Wine Society

”I hate it when I try to open a mature bottle of Bordeaux and the cork crumbles and falls into the bottle. If I use an Ah-So, two pronged opener, I often manage to push the entire cork into the bottle. The Durand has saved me from this waste of fine wine, and embarrassment as a host.”

Eric VogtCEO, eProvenance, Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole Maitre de la Commanderie de Bordeaux à Boston

”When opening some of the world’s oldest and rarest wines, there is only one option, The Durand. It is the single greatest wine opener on the planet, and I don’t leave home without it.

David WainwrightInternational Fine Wine Advisor

”The Durand corkscrew is the greatest discovery since the cork itself.

Mannie BerkPresident, The Rare Wine Co.

”We have been using The Durand at our Rare Wine Dinners and tastings in Australia for wines as old as 1907 and 1929. The Durand has now opened 100’s of rare museum wines for us with incredible accuracy and success. Now we are recommending this tool to all our customers and friends.

Shannon NobleRare Wine Dinners, Australia

”I am a new Durand owner, and used it successfully to open a bottle of 1945 Ch. Mouton Rothschild the other night. And at the end of the evening, it performed equally well on a bottle of 1925 Chambolle-Musigny from the Collection of Dr. Barolet. Many thanks for creating such an excellent device.

Denny Zeitlin, MDKentfield, CA

”I was given a Durand last week as a wedding gift and now I am completely sold on its ability. In addition to numerous bottles of vintage Riojas, we also opened an ’85 Mazis-Chambertin and an ’81 La Ladonne with ease. The corks came out perfectly when they most likely would’ve cracked/crumbled with a regular waiter’s corkscrew (or shoved in with a regular ah-so).

Peter KaoWine Buyer, Wine Exchange, Orange, CA

”We have had great success with The Durand at our November wine tasting, pulling corks from bottles like 1961 Musar, 1945 Palmer, 1923 Clos Fourtet, and many more.

Juergen DrawertCave du Connaisseur, Weinraritätenimport Jürgen Drawert

”I thought you might be interested in a recent experience. I have now broken my personal best record for the Durand, the previous record being a 1923 Pommard. The Durand has now, in a perfectly elegant and thorough manner, extracted a totally emaciated and crumbly cork out of a bottle of 1922 Usaneaux Romanee St. Vivant. The cork was in such bad shape that, as I was gently and slowly pulling it out with the Durand, it suddenly “flew” out of the bottle and I was surprised that it remained intact. There was not one single cork fragment left behind and the wine was superb, amazingly powerful, intense, sweet and spicy with an amazingly long finish. Without the Durand, we would probably have gotten the same experience, but only after 20 minutes of trying to fish many cork fragments out of the wine which would have seriously compromised the pleasure! Hope you are doing well down here because I use my Durand all the time and it has been a wonderful tool.

Glenn Tong, Ph.D.FAICD Director and Principal BiotechSmarts Consulting

”We tried out the Durand on a bottle of 1971 Camus Mazoyeres Chambertin last night. The wine was excellent, with amazingly intense and elegant sweet fruit and plenty of complexity and length. What would be of more interest to you though is that without the Durand, I would have spent about 15 minutes mucking around with the somewhat moist and crumbly cork, first trying to get it out then trying to filter out all the bits left behind. With the Durand, I fished out the cork in one smooth twist and pull, holding onto the fragile cork at the same time and not one bit of cork was left in the neck of the bottle or in the wine itself. What an amazing tool!

Glenn Tong, Ph.D.FAICD Director and Principal BiotechSmarts Consulting

”We were in Atlanta last weekend and a number of the lucky recipients of Durands were discussing how well they work. I mentioned some old ’70’s vintage California wines, and even some ’82 Bordeaux that benefitted from using it. Couldn’t have done it without one.

Also, used it on a 1974 Phelps California Cab last week and it saved the day as well as the bottle.

Wm. J. Wortman, Jr., M.D.Vice Echanson des Etats-Unis Chaine des Rotisseurs and Societe Mondiale du Vin

”It works! Well! The Durand combines two very tried and proven technologies. While it will work on any cork, it is nearly essential for older corks in prized bottles.

Parks RedwineWine importer and "Dean" of American wine competitions

”A friend of mine brought this wine tool to lunch one day this month when we were going to be opening several fairly old bottles of wine, and I have been trying to track down a source for it ever since. Well, here it is, it combines the best qualities of a waiter's tool with those of an ah-so. It is the best I have ever seen, especially for removing the cork from older wines.

Hoyt HillVillage Wines

”I have never liked or had any success using a twin prong cork pull ...... until I used the Durand. My 65th birthday was November 23. My children came to town to celebrate with us. I was opening a '61 Cantemerle, but the cork began to crumble. I then took out the Durand and removed the cork without further problem. We finished, appropriately with a '45 Croft port. The 65 year old cork gave us no problem with our Durand. A brilliant piece of design and engineering. Many thanks.

Stuart FinestoneSuccess

”… your vintage cork remover system has been put to a successful test … twice. It is novel and unique, but most importantly it works!!! Thank you!

John PagnuccoGrand Régent, Commanderie de Bordeaux

”The opener worked better than anyone thought and the old wines that were sacrificed in the name of research were magnificent.

Joel KnoxInland Seafood

”Every time a really old cork fractures on a bottle great wine and puts small pieces in the bottle, I wish for this device. The one time I was able to use the device, I was able to remove a very old poorly conditioned cork in one piece despite a huge lateral fracture in the cork.

Don CornuttDr. Feelgood on Mark Squire's Bulletin Board on eRobertParker.com

”I found the Durand to be great help when opening older bottles of wine. I would recommend it to any serious oenophile.

Doug Bryant MaîtreAtlanta Chapter Commanderie De Bordeaux

”I am drafting an endorsement letter to send out to all my contacts describing the effectiveness of the Durand!

Michael McNeillMS (Master Sommellier) and Director of Wine Education, Quality Wine & Spirits

”The Durand is an absolute essential for anyone who enjoys opening and drinking older wines. The Durand is simply a must-have.

Antonio GalloniVinous

”The Durand worked like a charm with one or two particularly saturated and tired looking corks being extracted without difficulty.

Mark HendersonWinemark, New Zealand