How to open a bottle of wine with your shoe

A thirsty gentleman with a new bottle of wine, but no corkscrew, shows his friends a neat trick. (Via Cynical-C)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

MORE: Food

More at Boing Boing

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Hackers prepare for first "national holiday" in their honor

Matt J

Please note: Should not be attempted with fizzy wines.
TokenFrenchDude

We French like to think outside the bottle.
Anonymous

Wow, I actually learned something useful today. Thank you, internets!
wpncyril

Am I the only one just horrified to see how wine getting shaken that bad? Makes good wine undrinkable …
- Gilbert Wham
  
  If you’re in a state where you must drink this bottle of wine, right now, even if you are in the street and have no corkscrew, I don’t think it’s much of a problem…
Crispinus211

Now all you have to do is let the bottle sit for a few days to let the wine settle! Le neato!
rabidpotatochip

My life was incomplete before I knew how to do this.
Anonymous

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momentum#Conservation_of_linear_momentum
Xenu

Remember kids, never open a bottle of wine with a toilet:
http://failblog.org/2009/07/06/bottle-opening-fail/
jordan

@ MadMolecule:
For me, “someday” may well be today!
Ernunnos

Watching that makes me almost as happy as drinking a bottle of wine.
Sekino

I wish I had seen this sooner. I own at least 5-6 corkscrews from all the picnics where we’d forgotten one and had to run buy a new one at the convenient store.
hbl

At the weekend I was at a friend’s house and they didn’t have a corkscrew. So they went out and bought one. If only I’d have seen this beforehand, I could have looked like a drunk Frenchman!
Anonymous

oh, is THIS why there was a textfromlastnight about opening wine with your shoe?
life makes sense now.
dculberson

Yes, because another bottle of wine is exactly what that gentleman needed! I’ve got a headache just thinking about what his next morning was like.
- Lobster
  
  I was just thinking this. These guys seem like they’ve had enough already. Still, neat trick. Would have been neater if the bottle shattered.
Hank

I’ve only ever done that against a tree; in which case you don’t need the shoe. I’ll have to remember that for when I’m surrounded by concrete and corkscrewless.
PaulR

One of the guys says something like “Now we’ll see how the Bretons do it”.

If he was able to perform this neat trick correctly, he was still sober. (With apologies to Dean “If you can lie down without hanging on to anything, you’re still sober” Martin.)
christalm

Yeah, Hank, trees work. I learned to do this against a door frame, with the bottle wrapped in a towel from a Luxembourger housemate. I like doing it even if there are corkscrews around because it’s fun!
Anonymous

This is why I always buy wine with a screw top. But now I guess I can stop buying booze in the grocery store.
Teller

Very slick – and thankfully doesn’t fall under BBs moderation policy.
Anonymous

Much more impressive than Maxwell Smart’s technology…
2k

Stupid to Genius in the time it takes to open some wine with your shoe.
I love this.
MadMolecule

Someday, I’ll be glad I know this. Thanks.
Tdawwg

How picturesque alcoholism can be! I had no idea!
cstatman

FAH! Sabreage!

http://www.howcast.com/videos/9044-How-To-Open-a-Champagne-Bottle-With-a-Sabre
Anonymous

Anybody care to explain the physics behind this?
Nylund

Does this same technique work when trying to open up one’s mind?
- IWood
  
  Yes. Yes it does. Messy, though. And you need big feet.
  
  BTW–sarcophager?
jpixl

Impressive! I had a college professor show us how to blow the bottom off a glass beer bottle with a similar trick, just in reverse.
Anonymous

This does work and I’ve used it many times. It is especially great when going backpacking through Europe, as corkscrews can prove troublesome getting through TSA security, and I usually only travel with a carry-on.

Only word of warning is that you must make sure to strike the bottle against the hard surface as flush as possible. My friend cut himself up really badly with a poorly aimed strike with the edge of the bottom of the bottle against the hard surface. Not a fun experience.
Anonymous

That trick is a classic, but in my experience it only worked when I was already tipsy. If you are barefoot, it also can be done by using any kind of clothing. Just make sure you do not smash the bottle.
Anonymous

Sweet trick. I will add that to my repertoire of being able to open a beer bottle with just about anything (lighter, table edge, another beer bottle). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctQDYQ0H-V0
EH

This is a folk art for sure. Probably the best thing I will see all day, thanks!
Michael Zed

Works with a folded-up hotel towel and a doorframe, corner of a stud wall, or a tree. With a tight cork it can take some patience.

Learned this in boy scouts.
freetard

Obviously he’s not a real Frenchman, or he’d have never been without a corkscrew- drunk or not.

But still, as a non-Frenchman, I find this to be a very useful video.
Anonymous

hey! what happened to the ‘send to a friend’ option? I’m not on Facebook and don’t see the point of Twitter either…
- MrWednesday
  
  Yes me too.
Anonymous

Be careful when you stop cause if that cork comes out you will have a wine shower.

Good thing you don’t need to do this with Champagne.
Sweetcarovan

Makes me proud to be French!
Anonymous

But does it only work on French wine?
Anonymous

Damn, it cuts off just before we get to see him drink it out of the shoe.