Laguiole Corkscrews

Olive wood, buffalo horn or vinestock

Olive wood gives a satin handle in blond to honey tones, with darker veins that run differently on each corkscrew. Buffalo horn comes out a glossy black after polishing, and some handles show gray or amber streaks. Vinestock is the lower trunk of old vines, dug up in southern France once they've stopped producing grapes, and is stabilized with resin. It's a knotty brown wood, different on every handle, that suits a wine opener well. Go with olive wood for a soft sheen, buffalo horn if you like shine, or vinestock to bring the vineyard to the table. To see these handles up close, read the guide Laguiole en Aubrac Corkscrews.

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Watch the olive wood corkscrew

A close look at the olive wood wine key and its satin finish.

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What a Laguiole wine key does

A Laguiole wine key holds the three tools you need to open a bottle of wine. You score the foil below the lip with the cutter, drive the worm into the cork, then brace the lever on the rim and draw the cork out in one steady pull. Folded away, it slips into a pocket, an apron or a kitchen drawer, ready for a tasting or a picnic. Factories are free to use the Laguiole name on corkscrews, and plenty of them do. Each French corkscrew on this page, by contrast, is handmade in France by Laguiole en Aubrac.

Plain handles or marquetry

A plain handle shows one material from end to end, so you can pick your wine key by color and grain alone. Marquetry handles fit pieces of different materials into a design, from a checkerboard to a bunch of grapes. They suit someone who collects wine tools, or a bar cart where the corkscrew stays on display between bottles. The foil cutter, worm and lever are the same in both styles, so the only question is how you want your Laguiole corkscrew to look in your hand and on the counter.

Wine key questions

Each corkscrew ships with care instructions. Hand wash it, dry it promptly, and never use the dishwasher, which can damage wood and horn.