If the cork is old and the material is brittle, there is usually not much you can do with a conventional spindle corkscrew. However, there are ways of uncorking even Burgundy that has been stored for a long time without causing damage - i.e. without crumbs - for example with this spring tongue corkscrew. The flexible springs are inserted as deeply as possible between the glass and the cork and tilted so that the latter can be unscrewed completely.

Good to know: In this way, you can even uncork your wines for a tasting sip (can it still be left or will it go with the cooking wine?) and then reseal it securely - because the cork can be pushed into the neck of the bottle just as easily and smoothly with the spring-tongue corkscrew. The handy tool adapts to any bottle neck shape. The manufacturer, L'Atelier du Vin in the Hauts-de-France region, is regarded as the inventor of this corking method and patented its famous utensil back in 1949.