Repour wine saver - anyone use this?

[Eric_Ifune]

Oxygen absorbers in food preservation: a review - PMC

I’m guessing it’s as simple as ferrous iron.

100ppm is not 100%, but it probably works as advertised. The chemistry would work. No way to reuse them unless you open up the entire device and renew the scavenging compound.

[DanielP]

Is it just as effective without refrigerating the wine?

[DAVID_GIBBS]

@c fu

@BrianL

I picked up a four pack a week or two ago based off a post over on GuildSomm GuildSomm that looked promising. Will probably try it on a bottle later tonight and will definitely report back.

Funny enough I was introduced to it by another somm at Spago. He said they use it for their by the glass and has been exceptional.

we’re using them, they work pretty well.

[CFu]

@DAVID GIBBS

@c fu

@BrianL

I picked up a four pack a week or two ago based off a post over on GuildSomm GuildSomm that looked promising. Will probably try it on a bottle later tonight and will definitely report back.

Funny enough I was introduced to it by another somm at Spago. He said they use it for their by the glass and has been exceptional.

we’re using them, they work pretty well.

Big vote of confidence if you’re using them!! Do you find it you need to put the wines back in the fridge? Is there an optimal level of wine that you feel it’s no longer efficient?

[Bryan_Price]

At my tasting with Joe Davis, he was using some not yet patented version of this which were $2.50 each. Most of the bottles we tasted at Arcadian were “open” for two weeks on this device, and tasted fresh.

[John_Morris]

I haven’t tried this, but it strikes me that it rests on the assumption that the only problem with leaving an open bottle is exposure to oxygen. That ignores the evaporation of aromatic compounds out of the wine.

[Bryan_Price]

@etomasi

Seems like a waste for a single use item.

A waste is cracking open a $95 pinot noir and leaving about half in the bottle uncorked in the fridge .

Luckily this was a very nice Morlet wine that somehow tasted great the next day! Seriously though, I think a $1-2 cost added on to a very nice bottle, if you know you won’t drink it all, would be worth it on an irregular basis.

[Bryan_Price]

@Carlos Delpin

I have been testing this for two weeks now with 5 different bottles opened the same day. Will post detailed comments later but so far, having tried 2 ounces every other day of each wine (whites and reds), I can not find deterioration nor development. The wines are in great shape. Fits for my purpose of having a slew of bottles open at the same time and be able to decide what to drink based on menu or mood.

Very very cool! My wife always wishes she could have just 1 glass, this will do the trick nicely. I’ve ordered a few on Amazon.

[Carlos_Delpin]

@John Morris

I haven’t tried this, but it strikes me that it rests on the assumption that the only problem with leaving an open bottle is exposure to oxygen. That ignores the evaporation of aromatic compounds out of the wine.

Good point. So far in my trials the aromatics of the wines have maintained well and if anything they feel a bit more concentrated.

[John_Morris]

@Carlos Delpin

@John Morris

I haven’t tried this, but it strikes me that it rests on the assumption that the only problem with leaving an open bottle is exposure to oxygen. That ignores the evaporation of aromatic compounds out of the wine.

Good point. So far in my trials the aromatics of the wines have maintained well and if anything they feel a bit more concentrated.

That is the problem with pumps like the Vacuvin. They wipe out the aromas.

I don’t understand from reading the links what the Repour does. It’s supposed to neutralize oxygen somehow?

[Stan_Y]

It’s in the paper I linked John, reduced iron wants to react with oxygen significantly more than anything else in the package wants the oxygen. So all the other gases remain, i.e. not a vacuum.

[John_Morris]

@Stan Y.

It’s in the paper I linked John, reduced iron wants to react with oxygen significantly more than anything else in the package wants the oxygen. So all the other gases remain, i.e. not a vacuum.

Even without a pump, you’ve vastly increased the headspace so you can still lose aromas.

[Al_Osterheld]

I think this gets rid of more oxygen than a Vacuvin (don’t think it pulls a perfect vacuum). I would also wonder about the increased head space affecting the wine since some of the volatile/aromatic compounds will partially come out of the wine.

FWIW, if it does what is claims (and it sounds like it does), it will create a partial vacuum in the head space, as Eric mentioned. But, that won’t affect the release of other aromatic compounds because each substance sets up an equilibrium where the partial pressure of the substance is the head space is the same as in the wine. So, more head space means more of the substance comes out of the wine but removing the oxygen doesn’t affect the equilibrium for any other substance (dissolved oxygen would come out and also be scavenged).

-Al

[Eric_Lundblad]

@John Morris

@Stan Y.

It’s in the paper I linked John, reduced iron wants to react with oxygen significantly more than anything else in the package wants the oxygen. So all the other gases remain, i.e. not a vacuum.

Even without a pump, you’ve vastly increased the headspace so you can still lose aromas.

If you pour out half the bottle and insert a repour, it’ll absorb all the oxygen…21% of the air, so it’ll have a partial vacuum (21%).

Aromatics occur because of diffusion (within wine, and from the wine to air). Diffusion in a gas is extremely fast…repour depends on this to absorb the O2 quickly. But diffusion in a liquid is very very slow…years/decades slow. So you’d lose aromatics from the very top layer of the wine. And it’s not a continious loss…it’ll reach a steady state fairly quickly (same amt of aromatic molecules going into the air as are going back to the liquid). This fact, aromatics only comes from the surface, is why we like large wine glasses, and like to swirl them.

So loss of aromatics isn’t an issue imo. I’ve tested this many times over 1+ year periods via my wine in partly filled kegs (used for topping barrels, head space in keg is nitrogen)…no loss of aromatics.

[Alan_Rath]

@Eric Lundblad

Aromatics occur because of diffusion (within wine, and from the wine to air). Diffusion in a gas is extremely fast…repour depends on this to absorb the O2 quickly. But diffusion in a liquid is very very slow…years/decades slow. So you’d lose aromatics from the very top layer of the wine. And it’s not a continious loss…it’ll reach a steady state fairly quickly (same amt of aromatic molecules going into the air as are going back to the liquid).

You take your fancy science-y stuff and just get out of town, mister.

[larry_schaffer]

Eric,

You use these for partial kegs? Do they make various sizes? Interesting . . .

Cheers

[larry_schaffer]

I also wonder about its effectiveness versus a screw cap and just putting the screw cap back on tight. Eric, any comments or thoughts?

Cheers

[John_Morris]

@Eric Lundblad

@John Morris

@Stan Y.

It’s in the paper I linked John, reduced iron wants to react with oxygen significantly more than anything else in the package wants the oxygen. So all the other gases remain, i.e. not a vacuum.

Even without a pump, you’ve vastly increased the headspace so you can still lose aromas.

If you pour out half the bottle and insert a repour, it’ll absorb all the oxygen…21% of the air, so it’ll have a partial vacuum (21%).

Aromatics occur because of diffusion (within wine, and from the wine to air). Diffusion in a gas is extremely fast…repour depends on this to absorb the O2 quickly. But diffusion in a liquid is very very slow…years/decades slow. So you’d lose aromatics from the very top layer of the wine. And it’s not a continious loss…it’ll reach a steady state fairly quickly (same amt of aromatic molecules going into the air as are going back to the liquid). This fact, aromatics only comes from the surface, is why we like large wine glasses, and like to swirl them.

So loss of aromatics isn’t an issue imo. I’ve tested this many times over 1+ year periods via my wine in partly filled kegs (used for topping barrels, head space in keg is nitrogen)…no loss of aromatics.

That’s very interesting. I suppose what you’re saying about rapid diffusion into a gas explains the burst of aromas when you first pop the cork.

What about changes in pressure? When you cork, does that put the air in the headspace under slight pressure? I’ve been curious about that.

Do you agree that the vacuums are a different story? I used to use the Vacuvin. I found they were OK if the bottle was, say, 3/4 full, but below that, and after multiple pumps, the wine lost all aroma; they were flatter than I would find just recorking the partially full bottle. (I always refrigerate opened bottles.)

The reason I challenged the idea of the Repour is that virtually all the discussions here about devices like this or Coravin, or about decanting, start from the assumpion that the only factor at play when you expose to wine to air is its interaction with oxygen. Some of Jamie Wolff’s articles talk about factors affecting diffusion of aromatics, including alcohol and sugar levels. That made me aware that there’s more going on than just oxygen.

Alan R’s data in an earlier thread about how little oxygen diffuses into a liquid also suggested (to me, anyway) that something else is also going on in a decanter.

[Nick_Ryan]

This can’t be better than a Coravin, right, since if you Coravin properly oxygen never even makes it into the bottle in the first place?

[Bob_G1]

Wouldn’t a shot of argon gas in the bottle be just as effective and be less wasteful? I’ve had good results keeping wine fresh for days with the Winesaver gas canisters. I purchased some on the Berserker days offer last year.

I typically drink about 25 percent of a bottle then give it a shot of argon and seal the bottle with a wine bottle stopper. I enjoy seeing how a wine evolves over several days in the bottle with this limited exposure to air. Many young wines are better after one if not two days after being opened and stored in this manner.