21

Back in 2001, Gero Artmer supplied information for his

"Gero" and his "Mister Maximum" for the book

Cork

Ejectors

published on-line in The Virtual Corkscrew

Museum. Subsequent to the publication of the book,

Artmer was contacted by the Austrian firm Idee-Exclusiv.

Artmer wrote to us "An investor comes to me and

wanted my Cork-up. He said now the market for all

accessories for wine is enormous and all are interested in

exclusive new items, best quality they could find."

After some discussion, they reached an agreement and

Artmer was ready to jump back into production. He was

willing to sacrifice some of his tennis and skiing time.

Months later The Corkup was resurrected. They are

packaged under the name "Bottle Tool" and sold by the

Austrian firm Idee Exclusiv for 29.90 Euros with this

advertising copy:

Luftdruckkorkenzieher mit sehr hohen Luftinhalt,

zusammensteckbar, automat. Reiniging der Nadel.

Metallausführung, Patentiertes Qualitätsprodukt für

jahrzehntelange Lebensdauer. Keinen Patronen!

The timing for the re-introduction of the product couldn't

be better. In Early 2002, the English production of the

"Corkette" ceased. Corkette had been around since the

1960s and was marketed worldwide. Several competitive

products were produced during the period and, perhaps,

the closest to come to being a household word was the

Swiss "Corky". The Corkette housing was plastic and the

Swiss Corky is plastic. The Corkup is all metal

construction.