The dread of a wine cork splitting while you’re trying to open that last bottle is a very specific type of dread — especially when the wine store is closed for the evening. One way to avoid this disaster is with an electric wine opener that takes human error out of the equation, quickly and safely removing cork after cork. Electric wine openers operate with perfect verticality, which is why they almost never mess up like you. Sorry, but it’s true. Right now a bunch of Modal electric wine openers are on hefty discount — some as cheap as $10 — at Best Buy. Pick one up for yourself or for Dad or even a graduate (of college!) you need a practical gift for.
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This basic electric wine opener opens as many as 30 bottles on a single charge and has a near-perfect score in over 700 purchase reviews. It comes with a recharging base that doubles as a storage rack and is slim enough to sit right on your home bar.
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For just $5 more you can get something just a little sleeker. This one also comes with a built-in vacuum sealer to lock in freshness for your bottle on the rare occasions you don’t finish it. (I’m staring at a bottle of red I opened yesterday for cooking and wish I had this thing.) This model also gets extremely high marks in more than 500 purchase reviews.
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Lastly, this Modal set comes with the same opener we listed first in this post but also a complete wine preservation system to neatly “re-cork” open bottles. That includes a vacuum preserver with an integrated pump to remove air, as well as two wine stoppers. The stoppers are great if you think you’ll drink the rest soon and the vacuum sealer is perfect if you suspect it’ll be more than a day or two.