Fontenille Pataud Sommelier Corkscrew Magnum - "54" American Elm, a Bonde Exclusive
Only 28 Made

54

The 54, named after the location of Bonde Fine Wine Shop at 54 Church Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a collaboration between Bonde owner and sommelier Bertil Jean-Chronberg and Fontenille Pataud. The stump of an American elm tree afflicted by beetles carrying the Dutch elm disease was recovered, and the tree’s wood was used to create an incredibly small quantity of remarkable, one-of-a-kind corkscrews designed to last a lifetime and beyond.

Fontenille Pataud

Fontenille Pataud was founded in 1929 and quickly became recognized as a manufacturer of high-end knives. They proudly handcrafts in France sustainable products that are passed on from generation to generation.

Refined and efficient:

Considered by many as being the best sommelier on the market, the Laguiole corkscrew is not only efficient and reliable, but it also features sleek finishes. Also used as a decorative object, it can be given to any wine lover as a gift or be used as part of a collection. With its rising popularity, more designs and models of this high-grade tool were produced. You can find the Laguiole corkscrew integrated with a blade, to be used as a pocket-knife for multi-tasking purposes. Collectors can proudly expose their implemented corkscrew switchblades while waiters elegantly exhibit high performance and exquisite patterns of their working tool. All these models feature the bee, symbolic of this fine cutlery, which is neatly carved along with the spring of the tool. Many believe that the sommelier contributes to the fine presentation of these products. It is, nonetheless, highly efficient and functional as well.

The American Elm

“Thousands of streets across North America were planted with elm monocultures. This created beautiful, shaded, tree-lined streets that everyone loved. But in the late 1920s, a shipment of elm logs from France arrived in the United States. Bound for Ohio, the trucks had a few stowaways - beetles carrying the Dutch Elm Disease (DED). And this was the beginning of the end for the elms on our continent.

By the mid-60s, DED spread to Ontario and decimated over 80 per cent of our elm population. Today it is rare to find a mature American elm still standing – you might happen across the odd one that is immune to DED or growing just far enough from others to avoid exposure to the fungus. It would take decades for the hardest hit neighborhoods to recover and begin to look anything like their former, shade-laden selves.

Despite its tough interlocked grain, it was initially used to make canoes and wheel hubs because the wood also has great tensile strength, meaning it could be shaped and bent to the designer’s will. It can still be found in some furniture (especially rocking chairs).” yourleaf.org