How to Open a Bottle of Wine Without a Corkscrew

I have been back in Ecuador now only a little over a month, and just now identified yet another simple luxury I am sadly without.

I happen to be a big fan of Chilean and- to a lesser extent, Argentinian- wine. So, while at the supermarket earlier today to pickup some necessities for a baby shower this upcoming weekend, I decided on a bottle of last years Trapiche Malbec. I have always enjoyed the Trapiche label, and with even their premium bottles for under $10, you can't go wrong.

Trouble is, I've yet to stock my new apartment with a corkscrew. Where is McGyver when you need him? Well, i suppose he'd probably check the Internet first, which is what I also did, as it turns out. Alas, none of the ideas seemed acceptable (I had no desire to break off the neck, and I had no "bicycle hook" with which to use as a makeshift corkscrew).

Fortunately, I was able to get the bottle open using nothing more than a simple paring knife. My approach (after much contemplation) was to "score" the cork along it's diameter, repeatedly, and in both directions, in order to cut into the cork deeply enough so that I could then firmly bury the knife. This allowed me to raise the cork about a centimeter. I then cut the cork flush top of the bottle, without cutting it off completely so that I could use the nearly severed portion as a leverage as I repeated the process to prevent the remaining cork from being push farther into the bottle. After the third time, I had successfully removed the cork.

I feel so proud; even more so that I managed it without a college degree.