Château Laguiole - Court of Master Sommeliers

The Château Laguiole designed by Guy Vialis in 1992 is the benchmark for luxury corkscrews.

We are very pleased to have a limited amount of Special Edition CMS corkscrews. They are handcrafted through 219 production stages and made from polished steel with a rosewood handle. They are presented in a fine red leather holster embossed with the CMS logo.

The Laguiole knife is best associated with the town of Laguiole in the Aveyron region of southern France. Evolving from the traditional straight blade knives used by local shepherds and farmers, the first true Laguiole was designed by Jean-Pierre Calmels in 1829 and (during the almost two hundred years to follow) has become a worldwide icon.

There is much mythology about the insect depicted on the catch. Some say it represents a fly or a horse-fly, something familiar to peasants in the rural Laguiole area, which is known for cattle breeding. The Laguiole catch is often referred to in French as ‘la mouche’ (the fly), and one legend holds that the fly refers to the custom of cattle breeding in the Aveyron region. Another legend identifies the design as that of a bee, an Imperial symbol, claiming that the design was granted by Napoleon in recognition of the courage of local soldiers.

Later models of the knife would incorporate added blades for increased functionality such as trocars and corkscrews. The earliest among these were commonly referred to as limonadiers as they were the tool of choice for lemonade vendors who also sold distilled spirits at the time. Today the more common term for the Laguiole corkscrew is the ‘sommelier’ – a direct reference to the trade for which it was designed.

Each piece, including delivery within the EU, is £125.00 or £135.00 for delivery Worldwide.