Believe it or not...
When I worked at a
Steak & Ale restaurant,
the
manager there successfully opened a bottle
of
cheap white wine following these steps:
- Remove foil covering the cork.
- Fold a cloth napkin in half and half again, and
wrap it around the base of the wine bottle.
- Find a firm, wooden, flat vertical surface,
such as the jamb of an open doorway, or maybe a
very solid wood wall.
- Stand facing the hard surface and hold the wine
bottle above one shoulder with both hands. One hand
should be on the neck of the bottle, the other hand
near the base holding the napkin on.
- Pound the base of the bottle into the wood
surface repeatedly, being sure the base of the bottle
strikes the wood evenly (through the napkin's padding).
- The inertial sloshing of the wine in the bottle
will slowly push the cork out, assuming the cork isn't
old and rotting.
A few
downsides: the
wine will be
very fizzy for about
2 hours afterwards, assuming you haven't spilled it
all over the floor; the wood surface may be damaged;
you will be perspiring heavily; the
risk of injury to
yourself and spectators is
nonnegligible.
Try this at your own risk!
Perhaps this technique is not so great for opening
wine bottles, as it is for opening wallets:
the restaurant manager made $5 in wagers
off of each of 6 or 7 waiters.