I purge / clean out the Coravin after each use.
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Did they really say store horizontally after use? Thinking that should say vertical (standing up). Going horizontal right after use creates a situation where wine can fill the puncture in the cork before it has time to reseal itself, leading to seepage issues.
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No worries, Iām traveling abroad but will try to do a video this weekend.
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Yes, copy pasted this from their email back to me.
I got a replacement unit however the CS was extremely insistent there was nothing wrong with my current unit, also kept quoting the āblind tastingā the founder organized 2-3 times that there will be absolutely no changes to the wine, didnāt explicitly say I was wrong to say the wine changed, but I got that feeling.
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Iāve been using Coravin for years and love it. Iāve been able to make bottles last longer, while drinking less.
Had 5 oz of 2013 Lillian Syrah tonight, and it is showing very well. I canāt say for sure whether it would have tasted better if Iād just pulled the cork, but I opened a previous bottle less than a year ago at a dinner party and the wine feels very familiar.
I remember a night earlier this year when I Coravinād two bottles because the first one didnāt taste right to me. There was something vaguely metallic about both bottles. But, I think my palate was just off that night because the bottles tasted fine later in the week.
This is my experience too. We have two old-school orig. design Coravins we use all the time.
It helps and I am glad to have the option, but its not the miracle they say it is (in my hands anywayā¦). Yes, weāll probably get a new one and compare, but seriously, a 1-year warranty then obsolete? Give me a break.
Iāve found Coravin-ed bottles stay pretty reliably fresh a couple days to a week, with half the bottle of liquid still in there. After that we usually open then because results go downhill when theres not much wine left.
We use it on Burgs and Pinot with similar results. We often leave the Coravin in the bottle. Seems like removing it every time leads to the same results.
Sometimes we have half-full Coravin-ed bottles we donāt love, and they sit around months (upright typically). When I open those later for cooking, I generally find a flat dead wine, or occasionally one that has gone bad.
Sometimes when you pull the unit/needle out, gas leaks out and (I assume) some air leaks in. Conversely, I wonder how good the seal is when the unit is left in the bottle. It does work better with the thin or the standard needles vs. the fast-pour ones, butā¦
Some composite corks are DENSE. Below is an epic fail on a Pataille Marsannay Roseā. Standard needle I think. Mind you, this was a particularly dense tough cork, maybe just an outlier, but with the thin needle, I suspect this can happen more easily.
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Is this even possible on their newer models that donāt have a ātriggerā and automatically start when you tilt the bottle? Youād think if it were required to get the best experience, their flagship models wouldnāt go without this featureā¦
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One of the wine professionals I work with who is Diploma WSET agreed that the Coravin sometimes doesnāt do well with Syrah. Weāve both separately noticed this and I have asked other people in the business about this since the Coravin is like a MUST for wine reps. They use the coravin hundreds of time a week. Some have also found the Syrah mystery to be true.
Havenāt used it much on Syrah for me.
Any other tips he recommends that is not usually found online?
I am going to test and try to keep āpositive pressureā inside the bottle, by not being cheap with argon.
Low sulfited wine too can also be harder with Coravin just from what Iāve discussed with wine sales reps.
Glad to see this thread as I was unhappy with Coravin results about a year or two ago. I did a tasting of 7 vintages of Spottswoode from 2010 to 2016. All unopened bottles and poured a couple ounces each then coravinād. I marked each bottle then returned them to my temperature controlled cellar. Iāve since drank a couple of those bottles (in each case at least 6 months later) and found them flat or otherwise disappointing. Other non-coravinād Spottswoodes Iāve opened have been better.
I was tempted to post, but thought this subject was dead. Glad to see the discussion.
I almost never use the Coravin the way that you did. I use it to drink a bottle over 1-2 weeks max. The single time that I drank a little and then put the bottle back in the cellar, it worked out okay (some vintage of Gallardi), but I donāt have much faith that Coravin plus long-term storage is a good idea.
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Yep, its the ideal short/mid-term preservation device. Works incredibly well for those purposes
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I think you guys are probably right. But the value to me was long term. There have been argon gas solutions for ages, but once you open the cork, clock is ticking. Those were good for a week or so at best. I thought that without removing the cork theoretically no oxygen comes in contact with the wine so it would last materially longer.
The coravin is nicer looking than the older argon solutions, but if it doesnāt do a better job it doesnāt have the value Iāve hoped for. And the gas replacements seem to cost about the same as the old tanks, so no benefit there either.
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IMHO, ive opened wines that i had stabbed more than a year prior and theyāve been greatā¦i just think your risk goes up if youāre soley looking to use it for long-term preservation
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Have had my coravin since may 2019. Once I figured out itās strengths it became a pleasure to use. For me itās short term use and works best with particular wines better than others. Not so good luck with Pinot Noir for more than a day but Nebbiolo goes about 4. I use it when we rent our yearly lake cabin and instruct all guests in how to put into a bottle, pour what they want and remove. I also tell them that at the half-way point to just pop the cork! I use it to check bottles that I am taking to restaurants and never bring corked wines again. I have used about 90 cannisters since purchase and just 2 days ago installed the quick pour needle in it as the original was showing friction going in and out of the cork. It did show some black paint wearā¦ Now itās like new! I have bought 2 as gifts and will be buying 2 more this holiday season for both my children.
For me, itās a great tool in my arsenal. My use with such systems goes way back The Wine Keeper somewhere in early 90s. It was clumsy and awkward with a big hosed nitrogen tank but it seemed to work ok but when the idea of never removing the cork came about, it had my full attention. Gone is the waste. Cheers.
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As requested, here is a link where I attempt to demonstrate how I use the coravin.
A few key points that has worked well for me -
- do not blow off the remaining argon into the glass you are pouring into
- extract the needle as quickly as possible once done pouring (leaving slight positive pressure in the bottle).
- leave the bottle upright for more than 5 minutes or longer if bottle/cork is cold.
Iām no expert but I was frustrated with coravin in the beginning and have worked with someone at the company to develop the method I speak of and it has worked well for me since. The only issue is I tend to use more argon than my pocket book wants me toā¦LOL
Cheers
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That was my thought also when I bought mine. Have a glass of DRC with a special meal and rinse and repeat over 4 meals over a year or two. Significantly reduces the experience cost. I was quickly dispelled of that idea when I opened oxydated or at least obviously dull wines 6 months post Coravin and havenāt used it much in the past 3 years.
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Exactly. That was the sales pitch. I agree there are excellent uses for the Coravin, but several glasses over a year or so does not hold true. Frankly, for short term use (extending the life of a bottle for a few days to a week), the pump works fine.
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much appreciated, I think Iāll give this a whirl this weekend. its been a while since I used my coravin and I wanted to dust it off and start using it again.