The trick is holding the gas button down as you actually push through the cork. If you don’t, you put in about a needle full of oxygen which can affect the wine in time. Especially if you pour a few times from the bottle using the Coravin.
If you do that wouldn’t the wine come out as you’re inserting the needle? I havent used a coravin yet so I have no experience with it.
Never had an issue honestly.
Great tip!
Out of curiosity I opened one that we used the coravin on in 2016… and forgot. We took a glass and a half out that night.
Last night the wine was superb, fresh, wonderful. It was a Turley Library Petite Sirah 2014, so doesn’t address the whites that were mentioned. Overall we have had good results from our somewhat limited use.
Once the needle is pushed a tiny bit into the cork, the pressure from Coravin isn’t strong enough to force gas into the needle (and there’s nowhere for the oxygen in the needle to go…). The trick is to lower the needle to just touch the cork/capsule, give the button a quick push (so you hear the “psssht” of gas), and immediately then push the needle into the cork. I believe many people skip this step and that is a primary reason for so many poor results (no pun intended) with Coravin.
What is the oxygen exchange rate for a normal cork that’s let’s say 10 years old? How does that compare to the amount of oxygen pushed into the wine from the needle? I can’t imagine that moves the needle - no pun intended - that much.
As there is already air in the bottle, can really ”a needle’s worth” of additional air make any difference? It seems unlikely to me.
Theoretically, there is no “air” just inert gas. But a needle’s worth does sound like a very, very small amount.
I always ejected a little gas as I started inserting the needle, and again afterwards. Tried all the tricks mentioned in this and other threads, except I never bought the extra skinny needle. Still found around 1 in 5 or 6 that seemed degraded after a few months. Most were 2/3 full. I assumed that sometimes the hole just didn’t seal well enough. And I could never figure out how to use it on bottles with sediment. So I abandoned the idea of being able to sample and store a bottle for months or years.
We now use the Repour for better and older bottles we won’t finish in one evening. It works fine out to 5-7 days which serves our purposes. And it can be used on bottles with sediment if poured carefully.
I rarely store my coravin’d bottles for more than a week or two after the first glass. I probably use it much the way you use the Repour. I tried Repour, but have a hard time getting the thing to push down into the bottle in a way that it stays there. Half the time it just slowly pushes itself back out until there is no seal anymore. Using force to push it into the bottle doesn’t seem to help much. Sometimes it works, but half the time it just doesn’t seem like it was made to fit into the bottleneck of the particular bottle I’m corking.
I think one of the take home messages here is that there is a ‘limitation’ to how long one can expect a wine to ‘remain fresh’ after using thinks like a Coravin. All things considered, once a bottle is 1/2 finished or more, you are best just to consume it then because the effectiveness of inert gas or anything else is simply not going to be there with that much headspace. Are there exceptions to this? Of course - it will depend upon the age of the wine, the chemical make up of the wine (pH, alcohol, titratable acidity), as well as winemaking methodology (how many times was the wine racked during aging).
Cheers.
John, I usually dry the inside of the top of the neck before I twist the Repour in but I’ve still had it work loose a couple of times.
Do you have any advice on how to use the Coravin on an older bottle with a lot of sediment without stirring it up?
Thanks, I’ll try the drying technique. No easy solution on using Coravin on an older bottle. However, since I only use it for the first two glasses or so (and after that would simply open the bottle and “commit” to finishing it), it usually isn’t so much of a problem as you really only need to tip the bottle to a horizontal position (or perhaps very slightly more) to get those first pours.
That repour is intriguing.
Mostly we drink a bottle within a week so it would be great for that.
When I compare the cost to Pungo I am figuring $1.93 per bottle for Pungo based on 3 bottles per argon cartridge.
The Repour would be $1.80 (10 pack) or $1.67 (72 pack).
I don’t like the idea of throwing one in the trash after every bottle, but it says it may be recyclable:
Repour is made of 100% recyclable materials. We recommend checking your city’s recycling program to understand exact methods of recycling in your area as standards and processes vary by municipality in the US. Check out our Repour Recycles page for information on recycling large quantities or if you’re interested in becoming a collection point.
Ease of use might be slightly better than Pungo. I might try it out.
Agree, plus the whole thing seems too cute by half - isn’t the argon supposed to be heavier than air, thus settling on top of the wine and keeping the O2 at the top of the bottle?
I’ve had pretty good results so far, though I don’t usually keep a coravin’d bottle for too long. I also use the vintage needle.
My usual method is to remove the foil altogether, pour the wine, and then cover the top of the bottle with a “wine condom” (as found on amazon). The latex hugs the neck of the wine bottle pretty tightly; makes me feel better about air getting into the wine through the needle hole. Not sure if it makes a difference, but my mind is at ease.
I have a coravin hooked up to a large argon gas tank. I use it daily and usually have 5-6 bottles open at any given time. Tonight, I had the last quarter of a bottle of 2001 Trimbach CFE that I had opened maybe a week ago. It was as good as the first pour (and much better than the last, oxidized bottle I opened a couple of years ago). This set-up is pretty magical b/c my wife doesn’t share my taste in wine. She’s pretty much a Champagne/sparkling gal. This gives me the flexibility to start with a mature white, then have a glass of something red. Highly recommend the set-up.
My suggestion: put a toothpick into the hole as soon as you finish your pour(s). I’ve had very good luck with this approach.
Revisting this after some new developments.
I have had a Pungo for many years but it has not worked out due to various problems and I am done with it.
Since my wife cannot drink alcohol for awhile I am finding it not pleasant to drink a whole bottle by myself before it goes bad.
I have my own health problems where I should be cutting back on alcohol so I would like to only drink one glass several nights a week.
I bought a Wine Squirrel which has been discussed here hoping it would work for short term preservation but as far as I can tell it does nothing.
So now I am considering a Coravin and have a few questions.
My plan is to use it on a single bottle at a time for a week or two. From what I have read it seems this works for most people.
Is it better just to leave it in the bottle in this case?
It seems the price of Coravin has come down quite a bit from what I remember. I am looking at Timeless Three + on Amazon for $140.
Is this a cheaper version and does it still work well?
I see vintage needle mentioned a lot and that it works better than the “standard” needle.
I do not see vintage needle mentioned anywhere on Amazon or Coravin’s web site in the descriptions of various models.
Is there still a vintage needle and does it work with all models? Do I have to purchase it as an extra item?
I so see it on Amazon as a separate item for $29.95.
Thanks for any feedback.
I have not personally had any issues with my coravin. I’ll coravin a glass and let the bottle stand up on the counter overnight and the shelf it the next day.