I don’t own a Coravin, and I have no stake in it, but the quasi-religious reaction some people have to it really puzzles me. It’s just a wine preservation device; it’s nothing more or less than however you choose to use it.
It’s like having a cell phone. You could use it to be unsafe and annoying and ill mannered, or you could use it in ways that are helpful and don’t cause a problem. It’s the behavior that could be criticized, not the cell phone.
If someone buys a Coravin and suddenly switches from being a generous big-hearted sharer of his great wines into a Scrooge about them, then that behavior might be unfortunate (thoug certainly not “evil”), but even if so, it’s not the device’s fault.
A Coravin could just as easily be used to be more generous. Maybe your friend pops by, and you wouldn’t have opened that 1986 Bordeaux for that occasion, but you do feel at liberty to pour a glass of it for each of you. Or maybe he’s over and you pour him a vertical of that Bordeaux.
Questions: do 375ml bottles “take away the spirit of sharing great bottles?” Have people ever deemed 375s to be “evil” before?
Again, I am not invested in the Coravin, but I don’t get these kinds of reactions. Maybe I’m misunderstanding.
Have you tried the “thin” needle they sell specifically for older bottles? If that doesn’t work, and you are really suspicious of the integrity of an old cork, you can always resort to recorking, like I do for screwcaps.
Absolutely evil! Only a 187ml could be more anti-social. To quote fellow board member Anthony Hall ‘375ml’s are terrific for when you have alcohol free days’.
My Coravin died today. Every time I insert a capsule the unit immediately starts hissing air and drains the capsule within 30 seconds. Luckily I’m still in the warranty period by a week. I’ll let it be known very publicly how they respond to this, because at least one other poster on this forum had a bad customer service experience with a similar issue.
Nick, I think there is a little rubber ringinto which the capsule seats. Perhaps it has shifted or failed? Easy enough to take a gander. But heck if it is under warranty…
How many capsules did you run through before you realized there was a problem? At $10/capsule, that is a lot of argon. Wonder if they will give you an extra capsule or two.
I’ve actually been noticing for a couple months that it was using more capsules than previously. However, there were no obvious leaks, so I was wondering whether I was just imagining things. It appears there must have been a small leak that suddenly transformed into a big one.
I’ve also asked for extra capsules. However if they say no I basically have no choice but to suck it up and take it, because all potential Coravin competitors remain vaporware at this point. I basically cannot drink wine on days 2 or 3 without this product. Grr.
If I didn’t use it for study purposes, I would say definitely not. Even with that type of use, probably not. I’ve seen too many bottles oxidize after a couple of weeks or months. The success rate doesn’t even seem to be that great, although some bottles do hold up for months with no change at all. The majority seem fine, but quite a few have not, and I haven’t accessed a huge number of bottles. Now, as has been mentioned, I’m planning on finishing anything I Coravin within a week or two. That doesn’t seem like much benefit for something that costs as much as this system does. I seriously think it’s a bit falsely advertised.
It works well up to 2 months. I haven’t tried it for longer. But I use it infrequently, and almost never have more than 1 bottle CVd at a time. I bought it as much out of curiosity as a need to preserve bottles. For that reason alone, I’d buy it again.
I have used mine almost every day since October of last year, and have accessed 50-100 bottles. I have had 2-3 mishaps with wines that I drank from multiple times and stored vertically at room temperature–by the 3rd or 4th pour, with many weeks in between, the wine had clearly oxidized and I had to pour it out. However, the bottles that I have stored on their side in a temperature-controlled fridge have shown absolutely no deterioration whatsoever. That includes a number of fragile, old, expensive wines that were left to sit for many months after my first taste. I poured 2/3 of a glass of 1983 La Mission Haut Brion last September, and opened the remainder a few weeks ago, and it was every bit as fresh and glorious as it was the first time. That said, I would be wary of pouring out enough of a pricey wine that the bottom of the cork is no longer covered by liquid when stored horizontally.
I absolutely would buy another Coravin! My antisocial tendencies have not been affected in the least. I have found that the ability to have a nice glass of wine with my wife every night without worrying about having to finish the bottle within a few days, averting the horror of having to drink an inappropriate wine with the food being served , is well worth the expense. My failure rate has been about 1-2% and most of those have been on bottles stored standing up after accessing.
They are replacing the Coravin and throwing in a bunch of extra capsules. They suggested cleaning out the capsule insertion area, which I tried, but that did not help (the theory being that there may have been some debris preventing correct capsule insertion). Very pleased with the customer service so far.
Has anyone taken a flight with Coravin capsules? Better yet, what about an international flight? I know the company says that users should not do this. I’m debating whether to mail the capsules, although I suspect the package will be sent via airplane regardless.
And a year later, the replacement Coravin is dying in the same way (gradually eating capsules at a greater rate, hasn’t yet completely died yet, but obviously close to it). Will have to see what they say since it’s out of warranty. If they want to enforce that, well, there’s always Pungo I suppose…
Make sure you completely tighten the bottom piece that the capsule sits in. I found mine was leaking and stopped the leak by tightening that piece by a 1/4 turn.
In order for me to properly turn the bottom on completely, I need to now wipe the threads every other time or three - otherwise it will not tighten sufficiently. Learned that the hard way by losing two capsules.
They are indeed now telling me to tighten the bottom piece as much as I can, and then more. This is directly contrary to the original instructions for the unit as I remember them, which insisted that you should leave a gap of 1/8" or so or risk damaging the unit.
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, is well worth the expense. My failure rate has been about 1-2% and most of those have been on bottles stored standing up after accessing.