Amongst Lady Magnon's Christmas presents, I usually add a year's subscription to one of her favourite magazines. Typically Elle Deco, Paris Match, or Elle à Table.
Some years back, I noticed in one of her mags an advert for a wine appreciation club called 'Expert Club'. After enlisting they would send you a free gift, then later inform you of their special offers of 'fine wines'; there was no obligation to buy anything. I happily subscribed.
They sent me the above Waiter's Friend as my free gift. I always prefer to use these rather than the standard corkscrews, and this particular one is of extremely good design and quality.
I believe the 'Expert Club' soon went bust (the name was later used by supermarket chain Intermarché), but I still regularly use my free gift. Who ever thought of sending out such 'freebies' by post must have made a very poor financial calculation.
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but free corkscrews; yes! I can't think of any other free gift I've received that was nearly as good.
I bought a very nice corkscrew some years ago for a very reasonable price. I then discovered why it was so cheap. We now have almost all o our wine with screwtops.
ReplyDeleteScrew tops are fine; at least they don't snap in half.
DeleteThey are much easier but made my corkscrew redundant.
DeleteI loved those screw tops when we were in NZ or Australia. But here we have a variety of cork screws, some better than others.
ReplyDeleteWe don't drink much bottled wine, bottled in glass.
Nor do we; I take my 5 litre containers to be filled at the vineyard. Much more sensible.
DeleteMy husband has a couple of freebies corkscrews he received from his favourite wine cellar and they work very well. The wine that came with them was very expensive so I don't know if they were really free after all.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
I suspect that was the idea of the 'Expert Club', but it all went wrong.
DeleteI can't think of any free gift I have ever received!
ReplyDeleteNor me; other than this one!
DeleteI could never understand how some people only value stuff they paid a lot of money for? I love free stuff, best things in life are free right?
ReplyDeleteIt's called 'snobbery' Jan. Free is always best.
DeleteI often wonder about all those cork farms I saw in 1987 between the Algarve and Lisbon, mile after mile of them. I wonder if they are mostly out of business now. It is all screw tops on wine I buy.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing them from the train between Madrid and Algeciras. All bright orange after having been harvested.
DeleteLike you, I always use a Waiter's Friend on bottles that have a cork and have one which has stood the test of time. Instead of a blade (I do have one with a blade) this one has a tiny wheel in a slight recess and is superb.
ReplyDeleteWine waiters wouldn't use them if they weren't the best for the job! Self-explanatory.
DeletePersonally, I prefer one tool for one job. I hate Swiss Army knives, for instance.
ReplyDeleteI've never owned a SAK, I always imagine that there are 50 inferior tools, instead of one good one.
DeleteThe good one being the tooth-pick, which always falls out and gets lost.
DeleteUnusual to get something nice for nothing. (We went to a local wine tasting when the girls were here, I am now an expert on corks.)
ReplyDeleteThe whole business of corks is quite complex. They tell a much bigger story than just holding the wine inside the bottle.
DeleteMy son gave me a year's subscription to an expensive magazine some time ago and the inducement was a large tub of face cream that costs £115! more than the cost of the magazine.....the cream was wonderful and when it ran out I was tempted to buy more but changed my mind...I often wonder if the gift was a mistake!
ReplyDelete