# Bottle, Wine & Serving Tools: research notes

Date: 2026-10-25. Scope: hand tools for opening, saving and pouring wine: corkscrews of every kind (waiter's, winged, continuous-turn, lever, electric, two-prong, air-pump and needle), still- and sparkling-wine savers and stoppers (plain, vacuum, argon spray, argon pour-through, needle-through-cork, clamp, CO2 recharge), and pourers and aerators; one register, with the `tool_job` split doing the dividing.

Overlaps left to siblings (from `catalog.json` and `zamana-categories.json`):
- Crown-cap bottle openers: claimed here since the blind check (2026-10-25) as the `tool_job` value `bottle-cap opener`. The `openers` register's `job` values (cans, jars, nuts, crab and lobster, crushing ice or cans) cover no bottle caps, so nothing else holds them. A cap lifter has no expert facet, so its branch drops every other facet. Twist-off plastic-cap grippers for weak hands stay with `openers` (jars). The `openers` notes should say bottle caps go here; that file is outside this folder and was not edited.
- Chilling sleeves, buckets, chill sticks: `beverage-chillers`.
- Shakers, jiggers, bar strainers: `cocktail-mixing-tools`. Spirit speed pourers and pour spouts are claimed here since the blind check, under `pourer or aerator` with `aerates` = no, because `cocktail-mixing-tools/notes.md` line 7 already sends "pour spouts" to this leaf and its register has no pourer facet.
- Decanters: `furnishings/tableware/carafes` (the Amazon query archive files "wine decanter" and "decanter with aerator" under Carafes & Pitchers). Pour-through aerators stay here.
- Wine fridges: `machines/appliances/refrigerators`.

Quote labels: **verbatim** = the sentence in quotation marks was in text I read myself (curl plus tag-stripping, or the eCFR API); **fetched excerpt** = the WebFetch tool returned it, summarised or lightly reworded; **search excerpt** = from a search-engine summary only. A search-excerpt-only number does not go in category.json. Raw text files are in the session scratchpad (`.../scratchpad/bottle-wine-serving-tools/*.txt`).

## Seed

Seed output (verbatim from `seed.py --category bottle-wine-serving-tools`):

- Example: car-tyres `treadwear_grade`: "a number that is on every listing and still needs a judgement attached, because experts know it only compares within one manufacturer's range." Judgement: "Treadwear grades can be compared across brands as a rough guide but not as a ranking."
- Persona: "A watchmaker, who thinks in tolerances and in what the price buys that you cannot see"

1. **This category's equivalent of the example.** The keep-time claim on wine savers: "up to 10 days freshness" (Vacu Vin), "15 Days" (another vacuum stopper), "up to four weeks" (Coravin Pivot), "even years later" (Coravin Timeless), "3-5 Days" on champagne stoppers. It is on nearly every saver title, and each figure comes from a test the brand runs or chooses to publish, so it compares within one method and poorly across. Survived the data check: the Amazon search titles carry it, the Meron study that Vacu Vin publishes is the source of its "10 days", and America's Test Kitchen's independent tasting put the best hand pump at about a week. Kept as `keep_time_claim` plus the first judgement.
2. **What the watchmaker notices first.** The worm, the part that does the work and that the handle, finish and price do not reveal: wire spiral versus cut auger, coating, and length against the cork. Survived: ATK tested all three and a primer explains the auger problem. Kept as `worm_type`, `worm_coating`, `worm_length_mm`, and the wear part on lever pullers as `spare_worm_included`. Dropped: worm pitch (one primer sentence: "An open pitch ... is less likely to cause damage to the cork than a tighter spacing"; never listed, no tester measured it); hinge play and fulcrum tolerance (no source); stopper seal tolerance across neck sizes (no test found); handle material (Laguiole horn or wood buys looks, not performance).

## Sources and what each supports

### Regulators

**US CPSC, Coravin recall to repair (2014).** Live page returned "Access Denied" to curl; read via Internet Archive snapshot (`web.archive.org/web/2024/...cpsc.gov/Recalls/2014/Coravin-Recalls-to-Repair-Wine-Access-System`). Confidence high.
- verbatim: "The system can cause wine bottles to break during pressurization, posing a risk of lacerations."
- verbatim: "Coravin has received 13 reports of bottles breaking, including one in which a bottle burst into four pieces and resulted in an injury involving two chipped teeth and a laceration that required stitches, four in which the bottles cracked and leaked, and eight in which bottles broke into two pieces."
- verbatim: "contact Coravin for a free repair kit that includes a neoprene wine bottle sleeve to contain broken glass when a bottle breaks and updated instructions and warnings. The wine access system should not be used on wine bottles with damages or flaws."
- Supports `pressurises_bottle` and the sleeve judgement. Second sources: Wine Spectator (below) and Wikipedia "Coravin" ("By June 2014, 13 complaints had been made of broken bottles", verbatim).

**21 CFR 177.2600, Rubber articles intended for repeated use** (eCFR renderer API, verbatim). Confidence high for what the rule says; medium for how it maps to listings.
- verbatim: "Rubber articles intended for repeated use may be safely used in producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, transporting, or holding food, subject to the provisions of this section."
- verbatim (e): "Rubber articles intended for repeated use in contact with aqueous food shall meet the following specifications: ... shall yield total extractives not to exceed 20 milligrams per square inch during the first 7 hours of extraction, nor to exceed 1 milligram per square inch during the succeeding 2 hours of extraction."
- verbatim: a crosslinking agent "for use only as a crosslinking agent in silicone polymers and elastomers identified under paragraph (c)(4)(i)", so silicone elastomers sit inside this section.
- Supports the food-contact judgement. The extraction limits are kept here, not in the JSON (one source, and no listing reports them).

**European Commission, food contact materials legislation page (Regulation 1935/2004).** EUR-Lex and legislation.gov.uk returned empty bodies to curl and WebFetch; the Commission page came through WebFetch. Confidence medium.
- fetched excerpt (quoted by the tool): materials must not "Release their constituents into food at levels harmful to human health" or "Change food composition, taste and odour in an unacceptable way"; labelling "including an indication for use (e.g. as a coffee machine, a wine bottle, or a soup spoon) or by reproducing the appropriate symbol."

### Specialist reviewers who test

**America's Test Kitchen, The Best Wine Savers** (`equipment_reviews/1510-wine-savers`). Confidence high.
- verbatim: the winner "did a good job at preserving opened bottles for a week"; the upgrade "excelled at preserving wines for longer; after weeks they tasted impressively similar to freshly opened bottles."
- verbatim: "both red and white wines preserved by electric savers consistently flunked our taste tests ... the type of electric pumps we used couldn't produce as much power as manual hand pumping, so they were less effective at removing air."
- verbatim (Coravin Pivot+): "the model we tested claims to preserve wine for four weeks. The wines tasted fresh and robust after two weeks. After one month, the wines were almost as fresh as new (we stored the red wine in the fridge)."
- verbatim (wine pro quoted): "red wine in general lasts a bit longer than white wine if stored properly, maybe four to five days, whereas white wine has to be refrigerated and I won't put it past three days."
- verbatim: "Wine savers with longer handles (left) made pumping out air easier."
- verbatim (Rabbit Houdini): "kept wines aromatic and flavorful for just a day or two. After one week, the wines had deteriorated."
- verbatim (oxygen-scavenger stopper): "about $1.80 to preserve an opened bottle"; tasters noted "metallic" flavours. Not used in JSON (one product).
- verbatim: Coravin "capsules can be purchased online at about $9 a piece." Not used in JSON (price, one source).
- Test design, verbatim: "Sample wines at 24 hours, 48 hours, and one week ... With top performers only: Sample wines at two weeks".

**America's Test Kitchen, The Best Wine Openers (Twist Corkscrews)** (`equipment_reviews/1849`). Confidence high.
- verbatim: "We used each model to open 20 bottles: 10 with natural corks and 10 with synthetic corks".
- verbatim: "Novice testers did in fact find both types of twist corkscrews to be significantly more intuitive and user-friendly than the waiter's corkscrew."
- verbatim: "the poorer performers mangled these corks, sending detritus into the wine and in two cases even breaking off the cork inside the bottle."
- verbatim: "the worm needed to be at least 1.9 inches long to accommodate corks of different lengths (the corks in our testing were between 1.5 and 1.9 inches long, though they can be as long as 2.3 inches in some bottles.) Shorter worms—found on several of the winged corkscrews—didn't always burrow deep enough".
- verbatim: "One winged corkscrew had a worm shaped like a rough drill bit, and it performed similarly to one, gnawing and splitting the natural corks and boring large holes through the smoother synthetic versions."
- verbatim: "worms with a nonstick coating were also preferable to those with plain, uncoated steel; the coating helps reduce friction between the worm and the cork".
- verbatim (waiter's): "is the best tool for opening wine bottles—and particularly for opening bottles with older or more crumbly corks ... removes corks more quickly (on average, in about 9 seconds) and affords more control, as you can alter the entry angle and location to remove corks that get stuck or broken in the bottle."
- The 1.9 in worm floor and the 2.3 in cork are single-source, so the JSON uses the two-source cork lengths instead (see Data points).

**America's Test Kitchen, continuous-turn corkscrews article** (`articles/3738`). verbatim: "The trick is to find one with a long, nonstick-coated worm (that's the spiral bit) and a hinged fulcrum (the metal arm you rest on the bottle's neck) so you can get good leverage." Confidence high.

**America's Test Kitchen, The Best Electric Wine Openers** (`equipment_reviews/2642`). Confidence medium-high.
- verbatim: "If you're interested in an electric wine opener because you have difficulty maneuvering traditional corkscrews, it's important to note that these models still require some hand strength."
- verbatim: "Openers with worms that were skinny and sharp could easily pierce both natural and synthetic corks ... our least favorite was dull and bulky".
- verbatim: one model "struggled to pierce synthetic corks"; another "spent nearly a minute and a half trying to pierce through a synthetic cork". The winner "opened over 30 bottles of wine in a row without losing charge" (one product; not used).

**America's Test Kitchen, Does white wine benefit from aeration?** (`how_tos/6551`). Confidence medium (one outlet).
- verbatim: "we found that pouring wine back and forth 15 times softened tannins, brought out complex aromas, and balanced flavors" (reds, 2012).
- verbatim: "Most tasters found the aerated samples 'less fruity' and 'less acidic,' not to mention 'dull,' 'flat,' and 'characterless.' ... white wines don't benefit from aeration, and 'white-wine aerators' are nothing more than a gimmick."

**The Kitchn, best wine openers (six styles tested).** Confidence medium.
- verbatim (two-prong): "if you're into (or wanting to get into) old wine, which has more delicate corks, or dealing with a recessed cork, this is a tool you should have on hand."
- verbatim (air pump): "It's cool to use, but definitely only appropriate for new wines. The pumping would be far too tough on an older wine's cork."
- verbatim (electric): "I've only been able to remove a cork with it 50 percent of the time." One tester, one product; JSON says "often failed" without the figure.

**Wine Spectator, Ask Dr. Vinny: Do vacuum pumps work?** Confidence medium.
- verbatim: "research suggests that while they might remove some air in the headspace of the bottle initially, they aren't removing any significant amount of oxygen. Other studies have shown that they are prone to air exchange, and there's a concern that they might even mute a wine's aromas".
- verbatim: argon, "A gas that's heavier than oxygen can create an invisible blanket on the surface of the wine".

**Wine Spectator, Ask Dr. Vinny: Rabbit-style lever corkscrew.** verbatim: "After a while, the coating will wear off, and that will make the whole contraption less efficient. Simply replace the worm"; "avoid using lever screw pulls on wax-coated corks." Confidence medium.

**Wine Spectator, Recall issued for Coravin (2014).** verbatim: "Incidence of bottle rupture rises to 13; devices need not be returned, but Coravin-issued neoprene sleeve required for safe use"; Lambrecht: "It's a rare event"; "Look for cracks and chips [in the bottle] first ... use the Coravin sleeve on everything." Also verbatim: the device "exerts only 22 to 26 pounds of pressure per square inch" (founder's figure, one source, not in JSON).

### Primers

**Wine Folly, What's the best wine opener for you?** Confidence medium.
- verbatim: "A waiter's friend has many variations, including the double-hinged model (pictured) which alleviates the brut-force required to remove a cork."
- verbatim (winged): "The worm (the actual 'screw' part) shreads apart even the most well-made corks."
- verbatim (Ah-So): "If you open a lot of older bottles that are corked with natural cork then the Ah-So might be a great type of wine opener for you ... Check out a variation for super old corks called the Durand".
- verbatim (electric): "Perfect for the elderly or arthritis-weary wine lover".
- verbatim (air pump): "Many say that the internal pressure on the wine inside is bad. We believe this is a myth." (Not used; the CPSC concern is about the glass, not the wine.)

**How Products Are Made: Corkscrew.** Confidence medium.
- verbatim: "The auger type is very much like a wood screw, with sharp-edged threads cut into a shank ... Auger corkscrew manufacturers claim that their sharp threads help them penetrate corks more easily than round-edge worms. Critics contend that they tend to slice up the center of older corks, ripping out the soft middle of the cork without removing the entire stopper."
- verbatim: round-edge worms "generally have between three and five turns in a helix that is about 2.5 in (6 cm) long." Single source; not in JSON.

**Wikipedia, Wine cork.** verbatim: "Corks typically are 24–25 millimetres ... in diameter. Lengths vary, usually based on estimated aging time, with corks for simple wines commonly being 38 millimetres (1.5 in) long, medium aging wines (the most popular size) 44 millimetres (1.7 in), and long aging or expensive wines often 49–55 millimetres (1.9–2.2 in)."

**The Cary Company, natural cork guide** (cork seller). verbatim: "The most common length for wine corks is 44 mm"; "traditional 750 ml bottles can handle corks ranging from 38 mm to 54 mm in length".

**Wikipedia, Sparkling wine.** verbatim: "Fully sparkling wines, such as champagne, are generally sold with 5 to 6 standard atmospheres (73 to 88 psi; 510 to 610 kPa) of pressure in the bottle." Wikipedia, Champagne, verbatim: "The six-bar (90 psi) pressure in the bottle". Both are Wikipedia, so the JSON says only "several atmospheres".

**Wikipedia, Wine accessory.** verbatim: "Some wine stoppers can be vacuum-sealed with a hand pump, to remove oxygen from the bottle, thereby extending the life of the wine by several days after opening the bottle." verbatim: aerators "mix air into the wine as it flows through or over".

**Wikipedia, Coravin.** verbatim: "uses a hollowed needle, which is inserted through the cork and fills the bottle with argon gas to pressurize it ... When the needle is removed from the cork, the cork reseals". verbatim: "wine writer Jamie Goode suggested in 2021 that the argon might subtly alter the wine and that reviewers using a Coravin opener should therefore declare that fact." verbatim: "Lambrecht estimated that only 1 in 70,000 bottles will break" (one source, not in JSON).

### Brand spec sheets (fields and order)

**Coravin Timeless Six+** (verbatim): "Designed for use with natural cork, Timeless is also compatible with screwcap bottles when used with the Coravin Screw Cap accessory"; "for weeks, months, or even 20+ years later"; "Up to ~15 glasses (150 ml each) per Argon capsule"; box list "1 Bottle Sleeve". FAQ verbatim: "Coravin Timeless™ wine by-the-glass systems are designed for natural corks and will not reseal synthetic corks. If your bottle has a synthetic cork, you can remove it and use the Coravin Pivot+®". Field order on the comparison table: closure compatibility, keep time, glasses per capsule, box contents.

**Coravin Pivot+** (verbatim): "works with any type of bottle closure, keeping wine fresh and vibrant for up to four weeks"; "Up to ~20 glasses (150 ml) per capsule"; box "Bottle Sleeve".

**Coravin, 4 C's** (verbatim): "It's vital to ensure the wine's closure is either a natural cork, agglomerated cork, multi-piece cork, or twin top cork. Synthetic corks don't have the ability to reseal. Also, be cautious with wax seals."

**Coravin Sparkling** (verbatim): "use the sparkling charger to charge the bottle with CO₂ to lock in flavor and fizz"; claims "at least four weeks" (one source; not in JSON as a number).

**Vacu Vin, Meron lab test page** (published by the brand, which calls it independent; who paid for it is not stated). verbatim: "Independent Lab Research Confirms: The Vacu Vin Wine Saver Keeps Your Wine Tasting Fresh For Up To 10 days"; Pinot Noir "color and fruity aroma preserved for at least 7 days. Non-vacuum wines declined faster, falling to 12/20 between Day 5–7"; "White wine (Pinot Grigio): Shelf life extended from 3 days to at least 10 days". Three wines, three bottles each.

**Vacu Vin Original Wine Saver** (verbatim): "pump until you hear a 'click', indicating that the ideal vacuum level has been reached"; "For sparkling wines, we recommend our Champagne Saver & Server"; "Reusable and dishwasher-safe wine stoppers". A search excerpt said Vacu Vin calls the pump "not suitable for sparkling wines"; I did not see that sentence in fetched text, so the JSON relies on the "we recommend our Champagne Saver" line plus the pressure chain.

**Private Preserve** (argon spray, verbatim): "Spray one long (1 sec.) and 3 short bursts into 750ml bottle"; testimonials only: "left it six months ... still fine". No test; this is why `argon spray` has no keep-time band.

**Rabbit Wine FAQ** (verbatim): "It is designed to perform 800-1,000 cork removals, but extreme wear or misuse can shorten its working life. If you can see visible flaking on the spiral and/or a silver glint showing through the black nonstick coating it is most likely time to replace it."; "Using a worn spiral will add more stress than the lever corkscrew is meant to bear and may ultimately cause your product to break."; "The most common abuse of the spiral results when the cork is pulled without first removing the foil cap." The Amazon replacement-spiral listing repeats "approximately 800 to 1,000 cork pulls" but is the same originator, so the number stays out of the JSON ("hundreds of pulls" is used instead).

**Rabbit Vertical** (verbatim): "includes a foil cutter and an extra non-stick coated spiral". **The Durand** (verbatim): "exceptionally effective in removing compromised and fragile corks, whole and intact, from older, valued wines."

### Retail listings (what data is present)

Amazon search pages fetched with curl on 2026-10-25 (titles and subtitle lines, verbatim):
- `s?k=wine+opener`: "Secura ... Electric Wine Opener, Rechargeable"; "Rabbit Wine Lever Corkscrew Opener with Foil Cutter & Extra Spiral"; "Chef Craft Select Metal Winged Corkscrew ... Top rack dishwasher safe"; "Beneno ... Premium Wing Corkscrew ... Precise Sharp-Edged Screw"; "True Truetap Double Hinged Waiter's Corkscrew"; "Vertical Lever Corkscrew with Foil Cutter, Extra Spiral". Type and hinge are in titles; worm shape and coating are not, except the "Sharp-Edged Screw" line.
- `s?k=wine+preserver`: "Vacu Vin Original Wine Pump ... up to 10 days freshness"; "Electric Wine Preserver - Rechargeable Vacuum Saver ... for 10 Days"; "Vacuum Wine Stopper Set ... Preserves Freshness and Flavor for 15 Days"; "Ivation ... up to 30 corks per charge". Method, drive and claimed days are in titles.
- `s?k=champagne+stopper`: "Keeps Bubbles Fresh 3-5 Days, BPA Free"; "Food Grade Silicone, Leak Proof"; "HYZ 2-Pack Champagne Stoppers with Built-in Vacuum Pump"; "CORAVIN Sparkling Stoppers Preserve Wine for 4 Weeks".
- Walmart TrueTap page: title "Double Hinged Waiter's Corkscrew ... with Foil Cutter".

### Could not reach

- Wirecutter corkscrew and wine-preserver reviews: WebFetch refuses nytimes.com, curl returned 53 bytes, and the Internet Archive has no snapshot. A search excerpt said Wirecutter's pick is the double-hinged TrueTap; not cited.
- EUR-Lex text of Regulation 1935/2004 (empty response); the Commission summary page was used instead.
- No independent test of argon sprays, needle systems over months, clamp champagne stoppers, or pour-through aerators on red wine was found before the session's web-search budget ran out (200 of 200 searches used across concurrent agents). Each gap is stated in the register rather than filled.

## Data points used for derived metrics

- `worm_reach_margin = worm_length_mm - 55`. The 55 mm is the top of Wikipedia's "49–55 millimetres" long-ageing band; Cary gives 38 to 54 mm for 750 ml bottles. Two sources agree on a top near 54 to 55 mm; I used 55 as the conservative mark. ATK's "can be as long as 2.3 inches" (58 mm) is single-source, so the number stays out of the JSON, but since the blind check the metric's why says zero is a floor, not a margin, and that one tester notes longer corks.
- `argon_cost_per_glass = capsule_price / rated_glasses_per_capsule`. Inputs come from the listing (capsule price) and the brand page (Timeless "~15 glasses (150 ml each)", Pivot "~20 glasses (150 ml)"). Second source for the Pivot rating, added after the blind check: ATK, which tested the Pivot+, "The argon gas capsules used by the Coravin each last for four bottles" (four 750 ml bottles is 20 glasses of 150 ml). The Timeless rating remains brand-only.
- Keep-time bands on the ladder: cork-resealed 3 to 5 days (one winemaker quoted by ATK, not an ATK test: reds four to five, whites three; Meron no-vacuum controls fell below acceptable between days 3 and 7, and its FAQ compares vacuum with "wines closed with just a cork or screw cap"); hand vacuum one to two weeks (ATK winner "held up well" at week one and "still fragrant, but ... a little less fresh-tasting" at two; Meron drinkable through day 10, "Test automatically stopped after day 10"; neither tested 15 days); argon pour-through about 4 weeks (ATK "almost as fresh as new" at one month; Coravin "up to four weeks"). Needle-through-cork years and CO2 sparkling 4 weeks are brand claims with no second source.

## Against the existing add-on schema

Add-on read: `supplies/kitchen/add-ons/bottle_wine_serving_tool.jsonc`, which has one field, `preservation_method: enum [vacuum, inert_gas, stopper_seal, not_applicable, unspecified]`. It composes with kitchen-standard (`materials[]` with roles, `max_heat_temp`, `dishwasher_safe`) and supplies-standard (`high_signal_markdown`, `sizing` with dimensions, capacity, weight, `pieces_included_text`).

| Facet in this register | In add-on today | Proposed kind under AGENTS.md | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| tool_job | no | hard filter (enum) | Proposal: `tool_job` [opener, preserver, aerator, pourer, gift_set]. Splitting aerator from pourer here removes the need for a separate `aerates` field. Dense in titles. |
| opener_mechanism | no | hard filter (enum) | Proposal: `opener_mechanism` [waiters_double_hinged, waiters_single_hinged, winged, continuous_turn, lever, electric, two_prong, air_pump_or_needle, not_applicable]. In titles. |
| old_cork_suited | no | derived at query time | From opener_mechanism plus worm shape; not stored. |
| worm_type | no | visual (out of schema) | AGENTS rule 1: the close-up photo answers it better than text, so it belongs to the image pass. Where copy states it ("sharp-edged screw"), Jev keeps it in `high_signal_markdown`. |
| worm_coating | no | high_signal_markdown | Brand-page text, rarely in titles; not dense enough to commit to augmenting. |
| worm_length_mm | no | high_signal_markdown | Seldom stated; we would not augment every row, so it is not currency. |
| spare_worm_included | partly: `sizing.pieces_included_text` | existing field | "Extra spiral" is a what's-in-the-box fact. |
| preservation_method | yes | hard filter (enum, widened) | Proposal: replace `inert_gas` with `argon_spray`, `argon_pour_through`, `needle_through_cork`; add `sparkling_clamp`, `sparkling_co2`; split `vacuum` into `vacuum_manual` and `vacuum_electric` (that absorbs `pump_drive`). `stopper_seal` stays. The current enum cannot tell an argon spray from a needle system, and cannot tell sparkling savers apart from still. |
| pump_drive | no | folded into preservation_method | See above. |
| keep_time_claim | no | high_signal_markdown | The claim is brand-set and not comparable across methods, so it fails the currency test; keep it as text with the method. |
| closure_compatibility | no | high_signal_markdown | Only needle systems need it, and few brands make them. |
| pressurises_bottle | no | derived; safety line in high_signal_markdown | supplies-standard asks the markdown to keep "real safety flags"; the sleeve and the damaged-bottle warning belong there. |
| aerates | no | folded into tool_job | See tool_job. |

Add-on and standard fields this register considers noise for the leaf: `max_heat_temp` (nothing here meets heat); `sizing.capacity` (no tool here holds a volume; decanters are out of scope); `sizing.dimensions` except as a drawer-size hint (eyeballable from photos). `dishwasher_safe` is fine for stoppers and pourers. `materials[]` already covers the food-contact parts (roles `seal_gasket`, `working_head`, `coating` for the worm's PTFE).

## Branches

Each leg names the register sentence (field in brackets) it follows from. `when` values are values of the split facet; the mapping from offered answers to values is stated in each split rationale.

**Split 1, tool_job ("Pulling corks, popping caps, saving leftovers, or pouring?")** (question reworded 2026-10-25; answer mapping: corks → `opener`, caps → `bottle-cap opener`, saving or pouring by the glass through the cork → `preserver`, other pouring → `pourer or aerator`)
- when `opener`: then_ask opener_mechanism, old_cork_suited. "Openers are judged on the worm and the leverage" (tool_job, why); old_cork_suited's definition: "Whether an opener can pull an old ... cork". makes_irrelevant preservation_method, pump_drive, keep_time_claim, closure_compatibility, aerates: their definitions scope them to "a saver" (preservation_method, pump_drive "a vacuum saver", keep_time_claim "a saver's maker", closure_compatibility "a needle-through-cork saver") and "a pourer" (aerates). pressurises_bottle stays live because its definition names "air-pump openers".
- when `preserver`: then_ask preservation_method ("Method sets how long leftovers stay good"). makes_irrelevant opener_mechanism, old_cork_suited, worm_type, worm_coating, worm_length_mm, spare_worm_included (each defined as "an opener's" or "a lever opener"). The aerates leg was removed after the blind check: Coravin Pivot+ ("1 Aerator 2 Pivot Stoppers 1 Bottle Sleeve") and Timeless ("1 Aerator ...") box an aerator, and ATK: "As of 2025, this set now includes an aerator".
- when `pourer or aerator`: then_ask aerates ("Whether a pourer mixes air ..."). makes_irrelevant every opener and saver facet by the same definitions, plus pressurises_bottle, whose definition covers only tools that push gas into a closed bottle; no pourer does.
- when `bottle-cap opener` (added 2026-10-25): makes_irrelevant every corkscrew facet (opener_mechanism "drives into the cork", old_cork_suited, worm_*), every saver facet ("a saver"), aerates ("a pourer") and pressurises_bottle (a cap lever pushes no gas). Wikipedia, Bottle opener: "A bottle opener is a specialized lever inserted beneath the pleated metalwork".
- No branch for `gift set`: "judge each piece by its own job" (tool_job, why) sends each piece back through the same question.

**Split 2, opener_mechanism ("Wine key, winged, continuous-turn, lever, or electric?")** (reworded 2026-10-25 so `winged` and `continuous-turn` are separate answers; "easiest" maps to either, per ATK "Novice testers did in fact find both types of twist corkscrews to be significantly more intuitive")
- when `waiter's, double-hinged` or `waiter's, single-hinged`: then_ask worm_coating, worm_length_mm. ATK: "The trick is to find one with a long, nonstick-coated worm" (atk_continuous_turn) and ATK twist review: "As we'd seen in our waiter's corkscrew testing, worms with a nonstick coating were also preferable".
- when `winged`: then_ask worm_length_mm. "America's Test Kitchen found several winged models fell short" (worm_length_mm, why); ATK verbatim "Shorter worms—found on several of the winged corkscrews—didn't always burrow deep enough". The worm_type leg was dropped after the blind check: its only support was one ATK winged model and one pictured Wine Folly model, and the step from two products to "winged models are where augers turn up" was never sourced. worm_type stays an annotation on every opener with a worm.
- when `lever`: then_ask spare_worm_included, worm_coating. "Lever pullers wear their worm's coating away" (spare_worm_included, why); "On lever pullers the coating is the part that wears" (worm_coating, why).
- No branch for `continuous-turn` or `electric`: nothing sourced changes downstream. ATK says "Almost all" continuous-turn worms were 4.75 in or longer, which would drop worm_length_mm, but "almost all" is not all, so the leg was not written.
- Dropped before publishing: legs keyed to `two-prong` and `air pump or needle`. The question cannot return those values (they are reached through the old-cork question and the saver split), so per the house rule the legs went.

**Split 3, preservation_method ("Bubbly, or still wine for days, two weeks, a month, or months?")** (reworded 2026-10-25)
- Answer mapping (rationale): bubbly → `sparkling clamp stopper`, `sparkling CO2 recharge`; days → `cork or plain stopper`; two weeks → `vacuum pump`; a month → `argon pour-through stopper`; months → `needle through cork`. "Two weeks" replaces "a week" because ATK found the Vacu Vin "still fragrant" at two weeks and Meron found it drinkable at day 10, when its test stopped. "A month" and "months" separate the two argon methods: ATK tested Pivot at one month ("almost as fresh as new"); "months" rests on Coravin's Timeless claim ("for weeks, months, or even 20+ years later") with no independent test, which the rationale says. `argon spray` is reachable by no answer on purpose: no independent test places it in a time band.
- when `vacuum pump`: then_ask pump_drive, keep_time_claim. "wine sealed with electric pumps failed while wine from the better hand pumps held up at a week" (pump_drive, why); "Vacuum stoppers claim 10 to 15 days ... Independent tasters found the best hand pump good at one week and fading at two" (keep_time_claim, why).
- when `argon pour-through stopper` (added 2026-10-25): then_ask pressurises_bottle. ATK: "As you pour, the probe injects argon to fill the space vacated by the wine" into the stoppered bottle; Pivot+ box "1 Bottle Sleeve"; Pivot FAQ "Bottles that are cracked or chipped can break" (pressurises_bottle, definition and why; judgement 5). makes_irrelevant closure_compatibility, now defined only for needle-through-cork savers (the Pivot's own stopper replaces the closure).
- when `needle through cork`: then_ask closure_compatibility, pressurises_bottle. "A needle system works only because natural cork springs shut behind the needle" (closure_compatibility, why); needle savers are in pressurises_bottle's definition and judgement 5.
- when `sparkling CO2 recharge` (split from the clamp leg 2026-10-25): then_ask pressurises_bottle. Coravin Sparkling: "use the sparkling charger to charge the bottle with CO₂"; FAQ "Why is there a Bottle Sleeve included with my system? Pressurized bottles may break if dropped, resulting in projectile glass." makes_irrelevant closure_compatibility (needle-only definition; the Sparkling Stopper replaces the cork).
- when `sparkling clamp stopper`: makes_irrelevant closure_compatibility, same reason. The old makes_irrelevant pump_drive leg on both sparkling values was removed after the blind check: marketplace titles include "HYZ 2-Pack Champagne Stoppers with Built-in Vacuum Pump", and for those the pump is the warning to surface (judgement 6), so pump_drive stays live and gained a `no pump` value.

## Trimmed detail

- ATK times: waiter's corkscrew about 9 s per cork, Le Creuset continuous-turn 12 s, winged 13.2 s versus continuous-turn 14.7 s average. Single source; kept out of the JSON.
- ATK: winged corkscrews "most were more than 7.25 inches long" and "some were surprisingly heavy (1 pound or more)"; electric openers "Lighter devices (less than 1 pound) were easier to handle" and "less than 12 inches tall" fit cabinets. Size and weight are eyeballable, so no facet.
- Foil cutters: common on every type; ATK found some electric openers' cutters "didn't work well"; Rabbit says pulling through the foil scrapes the worm coating. Not a facet (almost universal, generic).
- Oxygen-scavenger stoppers (ATK): single-use, about USD 1.80 per bottle, imparted "metallic" flavours. Too rare on listings for a value; would sit under `cork or plain stopper` if met.
- Balloon savers (ATK): acceptable for two days, lost seal, one burst. Same.
- Coravin capsule ratings: Timeless ~15, Pivot ~20 glasses of 150 ml; capsules about USD 9 (ATK). Inputs to `argon_cost_per_glass` at query time.
- Jamie Goode's 2021 suggestion that argon may subtly alter wine (via Wikipedia) is the one dissent against argon found; one source, so it is noted here, not judged.
- Corks: 24 to 25 mm diameter; sparkling corks about 30 by 50 mm (Wikipedia). Not needed for any facet.

## Corrections

- 2026-10-25, before first build: removed the opener_mechanism branches keyed to `two-prong` and `air pump or needle`, because the split question cannot return those values.
- 2026-10-25: replaced "tannins" and "fulcrum" in register prose with plain words (undefined terms); dropped a single-source "50 percent" figure from the electric-opener judgement note.
- 2026-10-25: worm-length prose changed from "49 to 55 mm" (Wikipedia only) to "up to about 55 mm", which both cork sources support.

## Script and contract problems

- `schema.json` once restricted `vertical` to [formulations, machines, fashion, furnishing, other], so the first build used `"other"`. The schema now lists `supplies`, so the field was changed to `"supplies"` on 2026-10-25 and the outputs rebuilt.
- The flowchart view draws a long "skip" list on the `pourer or aerator` leg (11 facets). It is correct but heavy; left as is.
- `tests/viewer-browser.py` on a scratchpad copy: 6 of 6 pass (1380, 768, 390 px; light and dark; offline).

## Corrections after the blind check (2026-10-25)

Source text for the new quotes is in the checker's raw files (`scratchpad/check-bottle-wine-serving-tools/{pivot,timeless,csp,atk_savers,meron,atk_twist,winefolly}.txt`) plus `scratchpad/fix-bottle-wine-serving-tools/{wiki_Bottle_opener,amz_bottleopener}.txt`. One correction to the check itself: the "Bottles that are cracked or chipped can break" FAQ line is on the Pivot+ and Timeless pages; the Sparkling FAQ says "Pressurized bottles may break if dropped, resulting in projectile glass." Both support the fix.

1. pressurises_bottle (fix 1): definition and derivation now include `argon pour-through stopper` and `sparkling CO2 recharge` as well as needle savers and air-pump openers; why says Coravin boxes a sleeve with needle, pour-through and sparkling systems; evidence adds coravin_timeless, coravin_sparkling, atk_wine_savers ("the probe injects argon"). Branches: new `argon pour-through stopper` and `sparkling CO2 recharge` legs then_ask pressurises_bottle. Judgement 5 widened to any gas-injecting saver, citing the Pivot/Timeless and Sparkling FAQs.
2. Scope gap (fix 2): `tool_job` gains `bottle-cap opener`, with a branch that drops every other facet; split question now "Pulling corks, popping caps, saving leftovers, or pouring?"; spirit speed pourers and pour spouts claimed under `pourer or aerator` (aerates definition, listing hint, vocabulary "Speed pourer", "Crown cap"); new references wikipedia_bottle_opener and amazon_search_bottle_openers; overlap lines rewritten. Partly open: the `openers` and `cocktail-mixing-tools` notes sit outside this folder and were not edited; each should point crown caps and speed pourers here. No speed-pourer listing page could be read (Amazon returned an empty body, web-search budget exhausted), so speed pourers get no facet of their own.
3. Reachability (fix 3): opener question now "Wine key, winged, continuous-turn, lever, or electric?", so `winged` is its own answer; saver question now "Bubbly, or still wine for days, two weeks, a month, or months?", so `argon pour-through stopper` (a month) and `needle through cork` (months) are separate answers. Vocabulary adds "Twist corkscrew" and "Winged corkscrew" (fix 15).
4. Vacuum keep time (fix 4): "about a week" replaced by "one to two weeks" in summary, preservation_method why, keep_time_claim why, trade-off 2 and the ladder text; judgement 1 reworded and `sources_disagree` set to false, since neither test contradicts 10 days; "a week → vacuum pump" became "two weeks → vacuum pump".
5. worm_coating why (fix 5): removed "once bare steel shows, the worm can slide back out without the cork"; now quotes Wine Spectator ("less efficient") and Rabbit (flaking or silver glint means replace).
6. Judgement 4 (fix 6): confidence high → medium, evidence now winefolly_openers only, note says ATK asks only for "a hinged fulcrum". Removed "keeps leverage once the worm is fully in" (opener_mechanism why), "lifts in two steps" (waiter's family) and "two short pulls" (vocabulary, now "two notches, rather than one").
7. 55 mm mark (fix 7): worm_length_mm why and range now say 54 to 55 mm and note one tester's longer corks; worm_reach_margin why no longer says "clears the longest common corks" and calls zero a floor; atk_twist_corkscrews added to its evidence. The mark stays at 55 because 58 mm has one source.
8. Recorked keep time (fix 8): preservation_method why attributes four-to-five and three days to "a winemaker quoted by America's Test Kitchen"; atk_wine_savers support line says so; the ladder note pairs it with Meron's no-vacuum controls.
9. preserver → makes_irrelevant aerates (fix 9): leg dropped; aerates listing hint says Coravin Pivot+ and Timeless kits bundle an aerator.
10. Sparkling makes_irrelevant pump_drive (fix 10): leg dropped; pump_drive gains the value `no pump`, its definition covers any saver, and its why and listing hint flag a vacuum pump on a sparkling saver; judgement 6 note points to the flag.
11. old_cork_suited (fix 11): rule now covers every opener (unknown for winged, continuous-turn, lever and electric wire-spiral openers, since ATK found good and bad twist models and nobody tested lever or electric on old corks); source changed derived → researched because it needs worm_type; backfill note says it costs what worm_type costs.
12. spare_worm_included and worm_type (fix 12): dropped "or one is sold for it" from the definition and why; dropped the "'sharp-edged screw' (an auger)" inference from the worm_type hint and the matching amazon_search_openers support line.
13. closure_compatibility and keep_time_claim (fix 13): removed the value `any closure` (only the Pivot, a pour-through stopper, had it; the definition is needle-only); keep_time_claim backfill note now stores open-ended claims such as "even years later" as text with an empty number.
14. Sources (fix 14): argon_cost_per_glass why now gives Coravin's 20 and 15 glass ratings and ATK's "each last for four bottles" as the independent check on the Pivot rating; Wine Folly support line narrowed to "One pictured winged model's worm shreds corks". Also removed "hundreds of pulls" (Rabbit-only) from spare_worm_included.
15. Pouring by the glass (fix 15): tool_job rationale maps "pouring by the glass through the cork" to `preserver`.
16. Not from the check: `vertical` changed from "other" to "supplies", which the schema now allows.

Rejected: none of the 15 required fixes. Not acted on: the Part B note that no question narrows gift sets (no required fix, and gift sets are still judged piece by piece); the Part D view that worm_length_mm's medium cost is optimistic (the checker called it defensible).