ThePortForum.com

Several of us own Durand corkscrews, and it is my corkscrew of choice for reliably extracting corks from old bottles (provided that I know what they are, otherwise I use tongs as the ah-so part of the Durand can obliterate the branding on the side of the cork). The one improvement I would like would be for the worm and ah-so prongs to be slightly longer, as occasionally with longer port corks, the last few mm can remain stuck inside the bottle.

My Durand has had a lot of use over the last almost-10 years; it still works well, but were it to wear out/break then I would definitely purchase another straight away. It was with this in mind, along with the knowledge that there was a small number of slightly longer Durand prototypes made a few years ago (which a few folks on FTLoP were lucky enough to purchase, but these were only available to US-based folks so I was not able to buy one at the time), which meant I decided to contact the makers of the Durand and ask whether there were any of those original prototypes remaining, and if so whether it might be possible to obtain one.

The good news I received in return which I can now share, is that there was a plan to create a limited run of longer "Port Edition" Durands towards the end of this year, which I have just had confirmation will be available shortly. These may not be generally available outside of the US, but having discussed it with them the folks at Durand are willing to do a one-off shipment to myself in the UK either just for me, or for a batch order via myself if there are other ThePortForum members also interested who I meet up with and can pass them on to (thereby minimising import hassle for them and shipping costs for us).

So, if you are UK-based (or not, but I see you regularly) and might be interested in a "Port Edition" Durand as part of an imminent group order, please send me a PM or email in the next few days to let me know. I hope to have more information/pricing next week, and will then look for commitments from those still interested before placing an order - either for just myself, or the group - very soon.

Email sent

Do the Durands always work on old bottles? I run into those bottles with the crumbling corks and the soaked, splintering corks. For what they charge, I just want to ensure that they do the job no matter what type of cork I would encounter.

Mike J. W. wrote: ↑18:24 Fri 29 Sep 2023 Do the Durands always work on old bottles? I run into those bottles with the crumbling corks and the soaked, splintering corks. For what they charge, I just want to ensure that they do the job no matter what type of cork I would encounter.

It's not perfect, but it will pull vastly more corks than anything else. And the slightly longer worm on this version should reduce one of the few problems it has, which is that sometimes it doesn't get that last 1/4" of the cork.

(One other problem that I've seen can't be helped - some corks are simply too loose and no matter what you try to use to extract them you're going to instead push them into the bottle.)

Just to let those who have told me they might be interested - I am still waiting on pricing and any further info; I have told the supplier roughly how many of us are interested subject to those details; I'll be in touch by PM/email once I hear further.

PhilW wrote:Just to let those who have told me they might be interested - I am still waiting on pricing and any further info; I have told the supplier roughly how many of us are interested subject to those details; I'll be in touch by PM/email once I hear further.

Thank you! Will await more info.

PhilW wrote: ↑08:48 Thu 12 Oct 2023 Just to let those who have told me they might be interested - I am still waiting on pricing and any further info; I have told the supplier roughly how many of us are interested subject to those details; I'll be in touch by PM/email once I hear further.

I might be interested as well depending upon the price.

Info has now been sent by email to all those who expressed interest; if you haven't received an email from me on this by the end of the day, let me know.