Posted December 18, 2008
Wine openers—particularly those heavily hyped Metrokane Rabbit models—have been a default Christmas gift for years now. The idea is that you’re not only flattering your giftee by acknowledging their drinking-related sophistication (perhaps choosing to ignore the six-pack of Milwaukee’s Beast in their fridge), but you’re elevating the ceremonial elegance of their wine pour with a state-of-the-art gizmo. But does the world need yet another fancy wine opener? Brookstone thinks so—and Brookstone, it turns out, is right. Its new rechargeable Automatic Wine Opener (it sits in a base that keeps it juiced up) is surprisingly useful. Unlike the manual Rabbits, this baby does all the work, gently extracting both natural and synthetic corks with its quiet mini-motor in a matter of seconds, making it an especially appropriate gift for moms (or anybody else known to sometimes struggle with opening stuff). It’s more sleekly designed than competing models from Oyster and Waring—and it’s actually cheaper than some of those overly elaborate Rabbit gift sets.
$39.95 at Brookstone.