We've all been there: a remote location (beach, mountain, football stadium) with a bottle of wine in hand and no opener. Thankfully, those days are numbered for a great many wines, including some Robert Parker and Wine Spectator 92-plus point wines such as John Duval Plexus and Rolf Binder Halliwell, because they've switched to screw caps. But while many wineries, including famed chablis producer Domaine Laroche, are making this move, there are many wines that still require machinery to open them.

And the question remains, what's the best wine opener?

I posed this question to a host of people, from servers to winemakers to moms juggling two kids, a saute pan and a bottle of wine. And while their lifestyles and occupations vary considerably, their answer did not. The majority of respondents picked the double-lever (also called two-stage or double-clutch) as their hands-down favorite for pulling that wine cork.

"My favorite is Rialto," said Jill Shiroma, owner of SWAM (Shiroma's Wine and More) at Waimalu plaza in Pearl City. She said the opening process using the Rialto is similar to pressing the clutch and gas pedals of a car. Caroline Gasmen, regional manager for Joshua Tree Imports, agrees. "They have more leverage. You don't have to put so much muscle into opening wine with a double-clutch."

If you haven't seen or used one, the double-lever/two-stage opener looks a bit more complicated than your usual waiter-style corkscrew, as it has two opening prongs, instead of the usual one. The difference between what some refer to as the double-hinge versus the double-clutch seems to be in the size and weight of the opener. A run-of-the-mill two-stage is lightweight and narrow, whereas the double-clutch, like the Rialto, has a bit more body to it. Try and imagine the clutch of a Lamborghini as opposed to a Ford Fiesta. The process is similar, but the feel is completely different.

Jason Castle, or "Cass" as he is known, is a huge proponent of the screw-cap closure. In fact, his entire wine list at Bar 35 uses only screw caps. But when it comes to cork, "it's double-clutch all the time." It's the only opener he lets the staff use at Indigo, Du Vin or Bar 35. "I have a $300 Laguiole opener with elephant pearl, but when I took my Sommelier exam, I took my double-clutch," he added.

Tony Zanis, restaurant manager at town restaurant in Kaimuki is also sold on one specific wine opener. "I love the Rabbit," he said, referring to the double-pull, double-hinge opener he uses daily. Admittedly, the two-lever opener does look like a rabbit, but there actually is a wine opener called a Rabbit that is "faster than a speeding bunny" and pulls a cork in three seconds.

But not everyone demands a double-clutch wine opener. For some, what it's made of is more important than how it works. "I like a Teflon worm with at least five turns," said my husband, Mark, master sommelier candidate and a vice president at Better Brands. Peter Bentley of Taltarni Vineyards in Victoria, Australia, is also a big fan of Teflon: "It goes through the cork so easily. Teflon really speeds up the whole process." But he admits that for older wines, "I really like the two-stage for older vintage wine and synthetic corks." Of course, Bentley doesn't need an opener at work; all Taltarni wines, including the 92-plus Heathcote Shiraz, use a screw-cap closure.

I confess, I prefer screw-cap closure wines to any kind of opener, but if I had to pick one, I would probably go with the double-lever or one that uses air pressure.

I fondly remember the wine opener my father invested in back in the early '80s. It made a whirring sound as he inserted the tip into the cork. If I remember correctly, it worked fairly well and was a great parlor trick.

Not a physics major, I am still fascinated by the concept of this opener and kept reminding myself to check online for a similar style. Well, I found the Metrokane Deluxe Rabbit. I am eager to try it.

But perhaps Kobrand Wines & Spirits state manager Phyllis Nishimoto Horner suggested the best overall wine opener: "Someone else doing it." And with the havoc most openers have on my hands, I would tend to agree.

Lisa Gmur is a fine-wine specialist and wine educator. The Raise a Glass column, written by a rotating group of beverage experts, appears here every other week.