65
Birambeau
Birambeau of Paris, France has produced a nice lightweight waiter
‘
s friend using
synthetic resin. The corkscrew folds up into a neat little package with the point of
the worm well protected by the handle. A steel hook is cast into the top of the
handle for bottle cap removal. The fully cut nail slot in the knife / foil cutter
makes lifting it for use an easy task. The fine wire worm is easily driven into the
cork. When the neckstand is place on the bottle neck, the ergonomically designed
handle is comfortably raised for full extraction of the cork. The
―
Sommelier
‖
retails for FF45.
Both of Birambeau
‘
s double levers offer wide handle levers which the company
calls
―
User-friendly levers.
‖
The model on the left has a built-in foil cutter near
the top of the frame and the 42mm central column enables pulling of long corks
without breakage. It also has coated worm for easy penetration. The less
expensive model on the right does not have a foil cutter or coated worm but has
the same wide handle levers. Both have a cap lifter in the top. At FF59, the first
model is a better choice. The other model is available with a clear frame in case
you want to view all the action!
