Stuck Without A Corkscrew? How To Open A Wine Bottle Using A Lighter

Red, white, rosé — no matter the occasion, and no matter how casual or grandiose it is, there's definitely a wine out there for you. A glass of sparkling wine is a great accompaniment for a celebration, a light wine is ideal for a picnic on a hot day, a mature red is the best match next to a delectable steak — we could go on. But what happens when you've found the perfect wine for the occasion, but completely forgot about your corkscrew situation? Before you start panicking, don't worry — there's an easy solution that requires a simple household object, and it's pretty interesting too.

A corkscrew usually costs no more than $10, but if you find yourself missing one, a standard lighter can be your fallback tool for opening a bottle of wine. By simply applying the flame from your lighter to the neck of the bottle where the bottom of the cork resides, you can actually coax the cork up and out of the bottle. Be warned though — the cork will pop out with some velocity not dissimilar to a Champagne cork, so be careful where you're pointing it.

There are a few ways to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew that have been tried and tested, but no technique utilizes physics in such an interesting way. See, there's a small pocket of air in every wine bottle between the cork and the surface of the wine. When you apply heat to this area, the air expands. And since the wine obviously can't go anywhere, that means the cork gets gradually forced upward until it pops out of the bottle completely. Of course, you'll have to remove any foil or covering from the top of the bottle first so you can do this in the first place, but it's a nifty bit of science that you can show off at your next gathering where the corkscrew is nowhere to be found.

And before you get concerned about any damage you might cause — either to the wine or, more importantly, to yourself — don't fret. This process typically takes a few minutes, so you don't have to worry about hurting your fingers or cooking the wine and ruining the quality. Yes, the best wine storage practices advocate against heat, but it's exposed to the flame indirectly and only for a short period. Now, you'll still want to store that wine properly once it's opened, but for the sake of a few minutes and a lot of convenience, this is an effective way to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew. This simple heating trick can also help you get a broken cork out of a wine bottle.