The corkscrew began as a tool for muskets, not merlot
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“The invention of the cork is the most important event in the history of fine wine,” wrote British wine historian Hugh Johnson. If this is true, the invention of a tool to remove the cork can’t be too far behind in importance.
The story of the corkscrew is one of ingenious creativity. Originally derived from early firearms technology, corkscrews were once only used to remove stuck wine stoppers. But the popularization of the device led directly to one of the biggest technological breakthroughs in the history of wine: the airtight glass bottle, tightly sealed with a breathable cork.
The challenge of wine storage
To understand how the corkscrew became an essential tool, we have to start with understanding why we seal our wine with corks in the first place. Wine quickly oxidizes and spoils when exposed to too much air, but a small amount of air transfer causes chemical reactions that develop its flavors to the fullest. The use of a cork seal greatly increases wine’s lifespan as well as the complexity of its flavor.
Before the cork came into common use in the 17th century, winemakers had struggled for centuries with how to get their wine to “breathe” just the right amount. Ancient vintners reinforced pottery wine containers with waterproof substances like beeswax, pitch, and pine resin, and stoppered them with rags. Sometimes olive oil was poured inside containers to float atop the wine and form a barrier from the air. However, these sealants and additives changed the wine’s flavor, and could only extend its shelf-life so far.
Porous cork wood, native to the western Mediterranean, works well as a stopper for wine because it is naturally elastic and permeable. It conforms tightly to the shape of the vessel and allows only a minuscule amount of air in (in a standard modern wine bottle, about one milligram per year). The ancient Romans recognized the potential of cork for sealing their clay wine vessels. But it wasn’t until the early modern era that glassblowing became advanced enough for wine to be corked in glass.
The origins of the wine bottle
Before the modern practice of tightly corking wine bottles, the first corkscrews were likely used only in emergencies. By the 1600s, wooden barrels, borrowed from the cider and beer brewing traditions of northern Europe, had replaced ancient clay amphorae for aging and selling wine. Also borrowed from cider making was the use of glass bottles to bring wine conveniently from barrel to table, stoppered with a chunk of cork. But “since these bottles were employed just for service, the stoppers never needed to be all that secure,” wine writer Paul Lukacs explained in his book, Inventing Wine. “They did, however, sometimes get stuck.”
According to journalist George M. Taber, “for many decades, there were only two ways to remove the cork [from a bottle], and both of them were bad.” One was to leave the cork sticking out, which made the bottle more difficult to store and the seal less effective. Pushing the cork all the way in made for a better seal, but the only way to get it out was to cut the glass neck of the bottle. This required special heated metal pincers and rendered the bottle unusable. The solution to this design flaw would arrive from an unlikely place.
Enter the corkscrew
Since the 1630s, European soldiers and hunters had employed a small metal spiral for twisting unspent charges out of the barrels of their muskets. This tool was known by various names, including “wad hook,” “steel worm,” and “gun worm.” It turned out that the gun worm was also ideal for removing stuck corks from bottles. Even today, the spiral part of a corkscrew is called its “worm.”
We don’t know exactly who first applied the gun worm to corked bottles or when, causing Johnson to label the origins of the corkscrew “a teasing mystery.” An English source from 1681 features the first-known written reference to a “bottlescrew” being used on corks. Just like the glass bottle, the corkscrew or bottlescrew spread from English cidermaking into winemaking. By the mid-1700s, the corkscrew had become commonplace throughout Europe, helping to usher in a new chapter in the history of wine. Wine could now be aged and stored for much longer than before, and sold in glass bottles with an easy means of opening.
Technological advances
As the glass bottle became integral to the production of wine, inventors continued tinkering to improve its complement, the corkscrew. In 1795, English Reverend Samuel Henshall received the first patent for a corkscrew design. Like some modern models, Henshall’s corkscrew featured a horizontal disk (today known as the “Henshall button”), to prevent the worm from going too deep into the cork.
In 1882, German inventor Carl Wienke made another major breakthrough in corkscrew design. Wienke patented the first folding corkscrew, which used a fulcrum to provide leverage for pulling the cork out of the bottle with less force. The descendant of this device remains in today’s bars and restaurants, often with the addition of a blade for cutting the foil off the tops of bottles. Today, it’s known as the “waiter’s friend,” but another popular name for it is the “wine key.” This is not just because it’s the “key” that unlocks the bottle, but from a mispronunciation of “Wienke.”
In recent years, product designers have adjusted the length of the worm and fulcrum to try and improve the classic waiter’s friend. Others have created entirely new designs, like electric versions that pull corks out with the press of a button. In 2025, food publication Serious Eats compared different wine opener models and found that each had its benefits and drawbacks. A two-pronged model called the “cork puller” was recommended for delicate vintage bottles, but required some finesse to operate. Electric models required little physical effort, but were more expensive. Serious Eats chose the tried-and-true waiter’s friend as its overall recommendation, as did Wirecutter in their own 2025 corkscrew comparison.
The corkscrew’s future
In 2022, a consumer report by UK household goods retailer Lakeland found a striking generational difference in corkscrew ownership. While 81 percent of people aged 65 or older reported that they owned a corkscrew, for 18- to 24-year olds, that figure was just 27 percent. Lakeland’s study identified a combination of reasons for this difference, including shifts in generational drinking habits. Another possible factor is the growing popularity, and convenience, of another innovation: the screw cap wine bottle.
A 2018 survey found that the global market share of screw cap wines had increased by over 13% since 2012. Besides ease of opening, winemakers cite quality control as a reason for using screw cap bottle closures. The natural wine cork is “well known in the wine industry to be a less than perfect product,” according to a 2002 paper on wine closure technology. Natural corks can crack, increasing oxidation, or introduce a mold known as TCA, further damaging the wine’s flavor. When sommeliers offer you a taste of the wine before they fill your glass, it’s to make sure the cork hasn’t spoiled the individual bottle.
The same paper noted that “consumers naturally blame the wine and not the cork” for off wine flavors because they can’t physically see the cause. This means that a few tainted bottles could lead to loss of business and a damaged reputation for the winemaker. Screwcap bottle closures make it easier to ensure that every bottle will taste the same.
However, there might be reasons not to discard the corkscrew just yet. A 2025 study found that corked wines were superior to screw cap wines in preventing the migration of microplastics. And the classic pairing of corkscrew and cork still has a powerful psychological impact on consumers. In a 2018 study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, researchers noted that “findings confirmed the positive halo effect of natural corks when compared with screw cap and synthetic cork closures.” The halo effect is a form of cognitive bias where observing one feature causes people to infer the presence of other, positive features. In the case of wine, drinkers tend to assume that a natural cork closure indicates better quality and flavor.
As long as wine has been around, winemakers have attempted to improve how the beverage is stored, aged, and sold. But the corkscrew, once borrowed from rifleman’s equipment, has gone hand in hand with the cork for so long that it might be hard for wine drinkers to let go of it entirely. Only time will tell whether new technology will replace this centuries-old pairing.
In The History of Every Thing, Popular Science uncovers the hidden stories and surprising origins behind the things we use (or eat) every day.
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