Barrels & Bottles

Corkscrews - A History

The earliest wine vessels were open terracotta amphora and barrels. These were rudimentally sealed or covered as wine was consumed before it had chance to spoil. The 18th Century saw the progress of glass manufacturing including glass bottles. The bottles featured a much smaller and smoother opening allowing an airtight seal to be created. These sealed bottles duly required opening and inevitably led to the invention of the humble corkscrew.

Inspired by the worm supplied with small firearms, the first corkscrew dates from the 17th Century. It is during this same period that corks made of cork gradually replaced the "broquelets" or wooden corks. Since then millions of specimens have been discovered from the simplest to the most bizarre.