Corkscrew with cork integrity protection apparatus

A method of opening a bottle having a lip and stoppered with a cork, the method comprising the steps of:

• fitting a corkscrew to the bottle, the corkscrew comprising:
• a handle;
• a screw shaft connected to the handle;
• a pair of wings configured to lift the screw shaft when the pair of wings is compressed, and configured to drive the screw shaft downwardly relative to a housing when the pair of wings is raised, wherein the pair of wings are disposed opposite each other relative to the screw shaft;
• the housing connected to the screw shaft, and having a lowermost first end configured to engage an outer surface of the lip of the bottle;
• a pair of paddles connected to and depending from the housing, and extending downwardly past the lowermost first end of the housing, wherein the pair of paddles is connected to the housing in a manner so as to urge lower portions of the pair of paddles to move radially inwardly upper portions of the pair of paddles are urged to move radially outwardly;
• applying an external, radially-inward force to the upper portions of the pair of paddles to urge the lower portions of the pair of paddles radially outward, thereby enabling the lower portions of the pair of paddles to be seated on the lip of the bottle, and the lowermost first end of the housing to seat over an outside surface of the lip of the bottle, and thereby causing the housing to be self-centering and self-holding on the bottle, while stabilizing the housing during subsequent screw shaft rotation;
• screwing the screw shaft into the cork, thereby raising the pair of wings;
• compressing the pair of wings to force the screw shaft upwardly and the cork partially from the bottle;
• and
• raising the pair of wings until the lower portions of the pair of paddles slide upwardly along an outer neck of the bottle a distance, relative to the screw shaft and to the cork, sufficient to permit bottommost ends of the pair of paddles to be raised above a topmost edge of the lip of the bottle.