Why are Waiter Corkscrews Called Wine Keys? Wine Key vs Corkscrew.

BartenderLife May 3, 2017

Wienke’s Winekey ~ What’s in a Name?

Why is it called a Wine Key?

“It’s a CORKSCREW Dammit!!”
“No, it’s a WINE KEY I TELL YOU!!!

So? who’s right? Well… both! All “Wine Keys” are Corkscrews but not all Corkscrews are Wienke’s Corkscrews.

CARL FRIEDRICH ALBERT WIENKE, OF ROSTOCK, MEGKLENBURG, GERMANY

“Forgotten sleeps the Man, to whom / We owe th’ invention, in his tomb, / No publick Honours grace his Name, / No pious Bard records his Fame, / Elate with Pride and Joy I see / The deathless Task reserv’d for me.” ~ Nicholas Amhurst, 1720

The Wine Key is named after its inventor Carl Wienke and for well over a hundred years its simply been called a wine key – the same way people call their Ford a Ford, after the name of the inventor. Only the wine key isn’t a major purchase every American looks forward to or ever talks about every day.

So what’s a good version of Wienke’s Wine Key? In my experience the Barvivo is excellent. Strong, grooved screw to avoid breaking corks, high quality, good looking, professional, and a real value! (Affiliate Link) Almost Identical to the Barvino one above is the HiCoup opener. I have them both.

When tavern owners wanted several of those brand new portable folding corkscrews they just asked the salesman for Wienke’s corkscrews, and the name Wien-ke(y) stuck. Decades went by, and finally over a century later (as the memory of the man behind the name faded into the alcoholic mist of time along with so much other bar history), the similarity in sound between Wienke and Winekey wound up as a permanent spelling error and part of our English language.

“Herr” (Mr.) Wienke’s name isn’t pronounced “winekey” but “veenka” – close enough for Americans and Brits who fail to pronounce the German W as a V as it is in Deutschland.

Click here to see Patent No. 283731 https://goo.gl/tv3bLt

For all search information on Carl Wienke’s lever action waiters’ friend corkscrew patent click here https://goo.gl/po4K2H

I found another Cork Screw type quite by accident out of immediate need and at first thought it was chintzy (but it worked). It soon became one of my favorites (the lever rest portion is long enough to extract a cork without problems. The major advantage is in super busy places where you need to remove the capsule quickly (without unfolding the little knife blade most openers have) – so you’ll get your bottles opened much more quickly.

After lending it out one day I never saw it again (yep, she STOLE it!), so I missed it so much I went out and bought another one.

Franmara Boomerang 2 Step Corkscrew Note on that link, there are a couple of almost identical looking versions and varying prices. They all work the same and visually are practically indistinguishable.

Origins of the term “wine key”

The term “wine key” came into existence due to the German inventor’s last name, Wienke, which is difficult for English speakers to pronounce. When ordering the product from catalogs, the meaning and origins of the new Wienke Corkscrew gradually became lost and it was simply referred to as a “Winekey” or wine key.