I used this method on a nice bottle of scotch without any trouble at all. I gently turned the screw into the waxed cork about 2-3 times, so that the screw went through a little less than half of the cork. Then I just slowly levered the cork half out of the bottle, cleaned it of any wax debris with a damp cloth, and then pulled the cork the rest of the way out.

By nynk on February 8, 2011 02:37 PM

I needed to remove a wax seal from a stoneware bottle of truffle oil and decided to put the bottle in the freezer for 20 minutes while I searched on line for some answers. Didn't find anything worthwhile - so I pulled it out - gave it a quick hard (not too hard) tap with a flat screw driver tip - and the stuff shattered into the sink! Another few quick taps and the stuff was off! Then, just used...+READ

I needed to remove a wax seal from a stoneware bottle of truffle oil and decided to put the bottle in the freezer for 20 minutes while I searched on line for some answers. Didn't find anything worthwhile - so I pulled it out - gave it a quick hard (not too hard) tap with a flat screw driver tip - and the stuff shattered into the sink! Another few quick taps and the stuff was off! Then, just used a corkscrew to remove the cork and replaced it with one of those corks with the plastic tops for reuse (MIL insists I always keep some on hand so definitely save a few for various needs). This is a Perfect solution :) !!!-COLLAPSE

By Just2Curious on August 29, 2009 05:21 AM

Beware, this only works for wine bottles, and in the video the wax layer seems very soft. Many fine armagnacs have a wax which is much harder and brittle (more like thick sealing wax) and beneath that is a plastic part on top of a corl which is meant to be re-used many times as you work your way through the bottle. So the above technique does not work for that. I wish I knew what the 'right' way...+READ

Beware, this only works for wine bottles, and in the video the wax layer seems very soft. Many fine armagnacs have a wax which is much harder and brittle (more like thick sealing wax) and beneath that is a plastic part on top of a corl which is meant to be re-used many times as you work your way through the bottle. So the above technique does not work for that. I wish I knew what the 'right' way is to open these, which is why I was searching on the net. The best I can come up with is striking with a hard object such as the handle of a large screwdriver. Don't hit too hard and break the glass. But hit hard enough so that the wax fractures. Then scrape the opening clean with a knife, so that flakes of the wax don't fall into the bottle when you open it. Generally when I open the bottle, I quickly place a plug of paper kitchen towel into the top, and then clean around the glass top so tiny flakes do not fall in. Then I scrape around the cork, not removing all the wax, but making sure little particles do not fall into the bottle when you close it again. So that is what I do. But there must be a better way. Is there a wise owl out there who knows what to really do?-COLLAPSE

By davidcasper on June 2, 2009 08:05 PM

I clicked on this hoping that they'd show how to cleanly and easily open a bottle with hardened wax capssule, e.g. Lopez de Heredia Gran Reservas. I hope that they'd show that the next time around.

By RCC on May 24, 2009 01:37 PM

Why, exactly, do some vineyards feel the need to use incredibly thick wax capsules? I think Pax Vineyards, producers of heavenly Syrahs, use the thickest was on earth.

By famdoc on May 2, 2009 06:05 PM