Culture and Fashion

This one-of-a-kind museum should not be missed!

By Claire Vincent - Photos José Nicolas - October 27, 2011

If there’s an essential item for wine connoisseurs, it’s definitely this… Most of us use it without really noticing it, unless you’re a “helixophile”, which is what we call corkscrew collectors, who are as it happens, quite plentiful throughout the world. But the common corkscrew lying forgotten in a kitchen drawer has a history, an important one, a real one, and an interesting one, which you’ll discover by visiting this surprising museum. Indeed you’ll learn that the first corkscrew was probably invented by an Englishman in the middle of the 17th century, that

there are many shapes of the “worm”, and that their form and their degree of sophistication has evolved throughout the centuries. This museum brings together an impressive collection of over one thousand corkscrews, from the refined to the amusing… In one visit, it manages to raise this functional utensil to an objet d’art. Located at the foot of one of the most beautiful villages of the Luberon region, the collection on display is not exempt from the region’s “celebrity” angle. So you can admire a corkscrew offered to the owner of the

museum by Jacques Chirac, another by an important jeweler. The artist César even created one of his famous compressions for the opening of the place about 20 years ago! The founder of the museum is none other than the film producer Yves Rousset-Rouard, today Mayor of the town of Ménerbes, who began this incredible collection by buying a batch of corkscrews at an auction… When he acquired the winery that was to become on of the most respected estates of the Côtes du Luberon, he decided to install this collection in an old and charming part of the cellar, a magnificent setting for a museum with its artfully prepared scenography and lighting. The museum store is beautifully presented too: the wine accessories are of high quality and constitute just as many gift ideas… Particularly interesting at this time of year, when we start thinking about Christmas and looking out for original gifts… We finish the visit in style, with a tasting of the wines from the Estate and a little walk by the vines… just to admire one of the most beautiful views over the hilltop village of Ménerbes.

 

Discover

Musée du Tire-Bouchon
Domaine de la Citadelle
84560 Ménerbes
Tél : 04 90 72 41 58

domaine-citadelle.com Open daily, except Sunday and public holidays in winter, 9am-noon, 2-5pm.