OBSESSIONS
THE OBSESSIVE
produced by MELANIE HANSCHE photography by GREG DUPREE
Uncorked Meet Don Bull, a collector
of many corkscrews—10,000 of them.
By Nina Friend
APRIL 2019 15
HENEVER DON BULL
entertains friends at his
Virginia home, he invites
them to open the wine.
If that doesn’t sound like
a gracious move, consider this: To uncork
the bottle, guests get to pick from Bull’s
eclectic collection of wine openers, some
of which command thousands of dollars
at auction. For Bull, who operates a cork-
screw museum out of his home that at one
time included 10,000 pieces, the devices are
pieces of art and slices of history.
It began in the 1970s, when Bull started
with three corkscrews. “When I had 100,
it was no longer a collection. It was a pas-
sion,” he says. “And by the time I had 1,000,
it was an obsession.”
Over the past two years, Bull has sold
about 6,000 pieces. Other than a few special
corkscrews—like those from the 1893 Chicago
World’s Fair—he’s starting to let go of what’s
left. Citing a readiness to retire, he’d like to
see the pieces snapped up by wine drinkers.
See bullworks.net if you want to nab one.
W
PROP STYLING: CINDY BARR
