Guy Vialis, Thiers, and
the History of Chateau Laguiole Corkscrews

HISTORY OF THIERS
Like Sheffield in England, and Solingen in Germany, Thiers (Ti-YARE) is THE cutlery capital of France. Located in Southeast France, on the banks of the Durolle River, Thiers has been a center of cutlery manufacture since the Twelfth Century. By the 1300s, Thiers was exporting knives to Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Once Columbus discovered America at the end of the Fifteenth Century, trade expanded rapidly. At that time, one quarter of the population of Thiers was engaged in knifemaking. Trade continued to flourish, and, by the middle of the nineteenth century, Thiers was trading with Britain and importing steel from England and Germany. Today, 75% of France's cutlery production is located in Thiers.

GUY VIALIS and CHATEAU LAGUIOLE CORKSCREWS
In the 1980's, Guy Vialis brought his dual passions as wine waiter and knife collector together, developing a waiter's corkscrew that was at once elegant and powerful. A descendent of a very old family of wine growers, Guy grew up under the influence of his grandfather, a wine grower who himself was a collector of local knives. Guy Vialis' creation is the renowned Chateau Laguiole corkscrew, whose curved line is recognizable among all others, and whose smoothness and excellent feel in hand provides a good and faithful companion for correctly serving "our friend" - the Wine! ith handles crafted from a variety of horns and woods.

• Chateau Laguiole - the "basic" line, with two, squared off bolsters and standard handles
• Chateau Laguiole Grand Cru - with two stylish, slanted bolsters that add strength to the folding mechanism.
• Chateau Laguiole "Master Sommelier" - honors Master Sommelier's of the world, including the winners of the "World's Best Sommelier" taste-offs, held every 3 years. Each winner is invited to Chateau Laguiole's workshops to select their "signature" corkscrew handle and leather case. Some of these have 2 bolsters; others are "Barehead", meaning a corkscrew that does not have a rear bolster.For certain corkscrews in the Master Sommelier series, each Foil Cutter blade is laser engraved with a unique serial number, identifying the corkscrew in this individual way.

ALL Chateau Laguiole corkscrews incorporate the stamped "bee" symbol and graceful curving decoration on the spine, handles crafted from a variety of horns and woods, and each comes with its own leather snap case for storage and transport.