Monopol "Barolo" Bell Corkscrew with Matte Finish

After only ten days my Barolo arrived direct from Germany. I've only opened one bottle but I was thoroughly impressed with the sturdy construction and smooth operation. The descriptions of its operation I found weren't exactly clear to me, but it is an elegantly simply design. The acme threaded screw is loose inside the housing, so all you have to do is pull the screw to the top of its travel, set the body on the bottle, press the corkscrew into the cork, and begin turning. All the cam at the top does is keep the handle from descending down the acme threaded screw as the corkscrew engages the cork. You can flip the cam over and run the handle down to the body at which point extraction will begin or simply wait for the cam to flip upon contact with the body at the end of the extraction screw's travel. The cam is weighted on one side so as soon as the handle reaches the top of the acme screw the cam will rotate and prevent the handle from descending during use. The dual-screw upgrade to this can be viewed in a youtube video and looks a little more complex to use but still very reliable and effective. That one requires a bit more setup to get the stopper in place, but I think once it is ready it will kind of reset itself each time the cork is removed from the corkscrew, making it ready for the next. I can't imagine needing or wanting anything better than the Barolo, though. I think this will finally solve the problem of breaking corkscrews. This one replaces a very attractive corkscrew with a single ratching handle and surprisingly weak gear teeth that eventually broke.

Review of Monopol Bell Corkscrew BAROLO - Made in Germany I purchased this wonderful corkscrew two years ago. I have used it to open about 1,000 bottles of wine (not all consumed by me, of course, ahem...). It has performed flawlessly, and shows little sign of wear, which leads me to conclude that it will probably outlast me. The package was shipped very promptly, direct from Germany, by the amazon seller Loewen-Germany. The corkscrew is of extremely fine quality, beautifully machined and finished, with a pleasant heft to it, without being too heavy. The box it comes in is meant to be disposable, but I found it nice enough to be used for permanent storage, although it does take up extra space in my drawer, as opposed to being stored loose. Some practice is needed to get the "zen" of using it, but once one does the uncorking operation may be performed with elegance and efficiency. For a detailed description of the entire uncorking process, please refer to the excellent review posted by Jackson Harris. I have opened many thousands of wine bottles, using a variety of mechanisms. This Monopol is my favorite by far. A nice feature of this design is that the operator has full control over how far the cork is pierced before the extraction phase begins. This allows for successful extraction of any length of cork. If you are an impatient sort, you should know that the popular rabbit/Metrokane lever style opener is faster, by about ten seconds. However the three that I've owned all seem to fail after just 200 to 400 bottles, sometimes in rather spectacular fashion (as in screw bends, drives cork into the bottle, red wine sprays everywhere). But, I digress. If you enjoy using fine quality tools and implements, and you are willing to devote five or ten additional seconds to the wine opening process, then you are likely to be very satisfied with this high quality Monopol Barlo corkscrew. Cheers! Joe Mooney

quite simply - the best well made specimen of one of the best cork screw designs. my parents had one of the same design for many decades, it changed continents with them and is still being used, and now I have one of my own, better made to boot. I expect mine to last a life time, and then some - kids showing curiosity for wine already. Also, it comes in a very attractive box so would make a great gift. well worth the expense. Adding this from a reply to another somewhat negative review: "Not as easy to operate" someone said: my reply: I have a pretty strong grip and dexterity and have no problem applying force required for "rabbit ear" or any other cork screw this thing is not really fast - probably takes longer than the "rabbit ear" or counter-mounted device, but it definitely IS easy to operate no matter how strong or weak, clumsy or not you are.... well read it this way: whether it is a first bottle you are opening or you already had quite a bit yourself - you will have no problem opening the next one ;-) - steady hand is not required :-)

This product does not work like the original! Don’t order it, because it cost more to return it than the cost of the item😡

This corkscrew is correctly shaped, and reasonably well made, but didn't work correctly, specifically the comma-shaped toggle that is supposed to flip or trip when it hits the top of the body, did not flip automatically, and had to be flipped manually. This 100-year old design works perfectly with a smooth surface finish, but the satin nickel finish has very much higher sliding drag, preventing the toggle from tripping, and also making the effort to drive the corkscrew into the cork far higher than it should be. My wife could not make it work. It needed some kind of lubrication, but graphite or grease is too messy and could contaminate the wine. What worked was butcher wax (Butcher's "Boston Polish" Amber Paste Wax), a semisolid paste wax that is applied with an old rag to all the screw threads, but not the corkscrew that goes into the cork. Put some wax paste on the top of the screw and operate the toggle multiple times to wax the inside of the toggle, so it will trip correctly. Now it works correctly, and my wife can use it without difficulty. April 2024: The corkscrew started squeaking and stuttering, so re-applied the Butcher Wax, which solved the problem. So, periodic waxing will be needed. Although I have not tried it, I suspect that Carnauba Wax will also work.

This is the easiest and smoothest manual corkscrew I have ever used. Pulling out a cork when you have arthritis can be very difficult,or when you just don’t have the strength you used to have. Those problems fade away with this corkscrew. Very smooth operation, just turn the corkscrew and out comes the cork!

My old German made corkscrew finally broke after over forty years and I though it would be a perfect replacement. This one is good and feels solid, just not as easy to use as my old one. It's a little stiffer, but I'm hoping it will hold up as well as my old opener that saw me through many moves and a couple of husbands!

My mom had a similar style of corkscrew for decades that she and my Dad got back in the 70s. Hers broke after 30-40 years, so I bought her this model as a gift. I liked it so much that I bought another for myself, and another two as gifts for my future in-laws. They are heavy duty and have a high-quality feel. My fiancée had a slight learning curve learning to use it, but picked it up after a few tries. They are expensive, but they are good quality. I have noticed that after several years of regular use, mine sheds little metal shavings from the grooved shaft if the cork is difficult to remove.

Para los amantes del vino y sus accesorios, este sacacorchos es genial, funciona muy bien

Excellent tire-bouchon, solide, parfait . Je le recommande car le prix reste très correct .

Cavatappi realizzato con ottimo materiale, robusto, ben rifinito in ogni particolare, che ha mantenuto una qualità ed efficienza nell'utilizzo. L'ho riacquistato sulla base di una esperienza precedente molto positiva, risalente a quasi 20 anni fa. Facile sia nella perforazione che nella estrazione del tappo. Assolutamente soddisfatto, consigliatissimo.

Fin design och robust

I bought this as a gift and wanted to spend a little extra to have something which is easy to use, has as little plastic in it as possible and was of high quality. This device didn’t disappoint in any of these areas. The design is ingenious and simple to use after a little practice (oh dear, *needing* to open another bottle!?) and I have to say it’s actually quite satisfying to use. It’s worth the money and feels like a high quality piece of hardware.