Port Tongs

Today I ordered the port tongs recommended by Paul Winalski. On Saturday night three port corks totally fell apart on me.

I'm curious what your experience is with port tongs? Should I practice a few times on bottles filled with water and re corked? Is there any chance that glass will get into the wine?

Wasn't there a good video somewhere on using port tongs?

[David M. Bueker]

Not that I generally like to direct traffic away from here, but Roy Hersh's For the Love of Port site has tons of info on port tongs if you do a search. Or you can ask a question or two.

Tom,

Here is the link to Roy's video on how to use port tongs. I followed his instructions on the one occasion that I used tongs. It worked just fine. I did filter through cheese cloth to make sure there were no tiny shards in the wine.

Sam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ubeLgY4vWA

David/Sam,

Thanks!!

Definitely check out Roy Hersh's video. On the several occasions where I've used them, port tongs have worked out just fine. You do need to get the tongs really hot.

-Paul W.

Paul,

Thanks. Other than using the charcoal grill (which will probably be my method) what other methods have you used for heating the tongs? What works and what doesn't work?

You could probably use a gas burner or a blow torch to heat the tongs. I would go with the charcoal grill. Even a little hibachi type grill should work fine.

Since I grill at least one course at probably 80-90% of my wine dinners its easy for me to use the grill for heating the port tongs.

Of course this past Saturday I spent 4 hours doing snow removal so we ordered take out and didn't use the grill (which was buried in snow). Then again, I didn't own port tongs on Saturday.

Related question - why do 20 year old port corks seem to fall apart more often than 20 year old Bordeaux corks? Does the higher alcohol/sugar cause this? Do they send the best corks to Bordeaux?

Tom,

Charcoal fire or an outdoor gas burner both work for heating Port tongs.

Regarding crumbly corks, I think the sugar in Port tends to make the cork stick to the bottleneck more than is the case with dry wine, so that a waiter's corkscrew or a screwpull ends up just boring a hole in the middle of the cork.

-Paul W.

Paul, Thanks! I was using a waiter's friend.

Port tongs arrived and I tested them out. Used the fireplace to heat them since I had a fire going the day they arrived.

Worked great!! Feel stupid for not buying them 20 years ago.

Picture is actually old bottles filled with water and recorked.

tongs2.JPG

On old Port I wouldn't even think of using a normal screw - an Ah So will pull it by getting it unstuck from the glass without breaking the cork in half. Port tongs are more about display than utility in 99% of the cases.

Port tongs are more about display than utility in 99% of the cases.

That's definitely true in my case. The only reason for using the tongs was that my friend had them. The cork would have come out just fine with a standard cork screw. Port tongs have only slightly more utility than a Champagne saber as far as I can tell.

Sam/Bill,

I respect your opinion but they sure seem like a nice tool. I'm tired of all the cork removal issues.

They also aren't that nice to display. I certainly would never display them in my dining room.

Hi Tom,

I don't doubt that the tongs would be valuable to someone who opens older vintage Ports regularly. That's not me. I do love Port, but most of what I open is recently bottled Tawny. I do drink a VP now and then. The oldest Vintage Port I have opened is a 1984 model.

On old Port I wouldn't even think of using a normal screw - an Ah So will pull it by getting it unstuck from the glass without breaking the cork in half. Port tongs are more about display than utility in 99% of the cases.

I've never gotten the hang of using an Ah So. Every time I try to use one, I end up pushing the cork into the bottle.

I do agree that port tongs are mainly for show. I also have a swan's feather for applying the ice water after using the tongs.

-Paul W.

If the Ah So pushes the cork, remove it and use a normal corkscrew - it is loose. But if you push only one tang donw at a time, alternating, the chances of it pusing a cork are much reduced - you wiggle it down and pull the cork - much easier than a screw.

You just need more practice, Paul....

Hi Tom,

I don't doubt that the tongs would be valuable to someone who opens older vintage Ports regularly. That's not me. I do love Port, but most of what I open is recently bottled Tawny. I do drink a VP now and then. The oldest Vintage Port I have opened is a 1984 model.

Sam,

I own a few 63s, and many bottles from the 70s, '83 and '85 so the tongs seem like the right tool for me. Like Paul W. I struggle a bit with the ah so type.

My view is that firstly, port tongs are great fun, even to the point that I once made my own. Secondly, they really are invaluable when opening really old VP, such as 50+ years, for which the corks really tend to crumble and stick.

Heating is best done in an open fire or barbecue. A gas flame normally does not heat it evenly enough. If only the tongs are hot enough, a tight fit around the neck is not that crucial, since the iron radiates a good deal of heat anyway.

In case you'd be interested in the story of my making my port tongs, you can find it here:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/port/tongs.phtml

Just before X-mas I was experimenting with electric port tongs - an electric heating wire wound around the neck and heated to glowing. Worked nicely. I even made a portable, battery-operated version. Might post a picture of that here later. Don't have access to it right now.

Cheers, Anders

Like Paul W. I struggle a bit with the ah so type.

Hmm - is man still a man for all that if he can't manage his own ah so....?