Ashish, I totally get your frustration. It sounds like their company has been through the wringer, which doesn’t make your concerns any less valid, but I agree that Harald’s response wouldn’t have satisfied me if I’d had your experience.
I hope QikVin gets back on their feet as the economy and restaurants are returning – their devices would be great for restaurant by-the-glass programs, assuming the quality control and all end up being sufficient.
My first attempt at using the Qikvin was a failure, unfortunately. I had leakage at the bottom around the piston immediately, and it got worse overnight. Today, the wine I poured in last night tastes completely oxidized. Contacted seller on Amazon and via their website but not hopeful on getting a refund. Oh well - back to boston rounds bottles for me.
Hmm. Hard to tell from the photo, is there wine on the second silicone ring as well, the one nearest the bottom? After you pushed the piston up initially to remove all the air at the top did any air bubbles accumulate at the top overnight? With mine I also see red stains on the top most silicone ring on the piston, but there’s a very good seal otherwise and wine never gets below that top ring. The piston never moves down and I get no air bubbles at the top. Most importantly the taste from day to day is very consistent for me up to at least a week. Just trying to sort out whether your unit is defective, or if it just doesn’t preserve the wine well enough for you when it’s working normally.
There is wine all along the piston, top and bottom (yes, along bottom ring). The wine definitely tastes oxidized to me. I am going to try tomorrow with water. Note that I did wash all the pieces per the instructions but I did not test first with water.
Ok. Possible yours is leaking more than mine. Also certainly possible your taste is more sensitive than mine. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Definitley looks defective to me. I have never had any leaking at all below the silicon ring on either of mine. Assuming you also got this from the same Amazon seller…that’s not a very good track record. Either its not a great device and I just got lucky with the two that I bought, or something is up with this sellers inventory.
Have you had any problems with air bubbles showing up under the top plate? I have put 2 bottles through the one I bought from Amazon (which is coming directly from QikVin) and they both had issues with air bubbles - not a lot of them, but enough to generate a return.
I haven’t noticed but I’ll take a look when I use it next (prob tomorrow).
I feel like I saw something about it being ok if there were little bubbles but I’m not seeing anything on the directions. Maybe I’m mixing that up with the Wine Squirrel?
Did your wines oxidize quickly with the bubbles? Assuming so hence the return, but wanted to ask.
I received an email from Ralph from Qikvin, offering to do a zoom call and explaining what might have happened. I am going to take apart, clean and reassemble then try again with water, and if it works, will try again with an inexpensive bottle of wine with Ralph on zoom. Amazing customer service that I truly appreciate.
I didn’t notice oxidation, but the wine was young.
If it is letting in air, something isn’t working correctly. I generated the return on Amazon. I’m sure I will be hearing from customer service.
I’ve noticed a very small collection of little bubbles at the top if I tilt the bottle at about 45 deg. Not sure if it’s due to incomplete evacuation initially due to the geometry of the top of the piston and the valve, or if there’s a tiny leak, but the key is I haven’t noticed it altering the taste of the wine. Can only speak for my device and taste, but using it every week since I got it it’s definitely working well enough to preserve the taste for me to be very happy. And for reference I’ve tried vacuum and gas in the past with clearly bad results. It’s totally changed my wine buying perspective. But if it’s not doing the job of preserving the taste well enough then best to return it.
Edit: One extra note, I do keep it refrigerated which according to the lab tests keeps the oxidation close to zero for at least a week. If some are noticing oxidation and not chilling it then that’s worth a try.
Mike - I went directly to the Qikvin website and used the “contact us” form. I received an email pretty quickly from Ralph Schmidt. I suggest you do the same - Ralph will zoom with you and figure out the issue, and if it’s a problem, I am sure he will exchange it. Much quicker and easier than going through Amazon.
My QikVin order via Amazon was canceled since it won’t ship within 30 days.
I had a 2013 Ladd pinot noir in it for 10 days on the counter, the last 8 days with only about 4 ounces left (we’ve been out of town). I poured it last night and it was still pretty good, though this is the first one that showed it was starting to advance a bit, maybe like the wine would have tasted if you recorked half of it and left it until the next day?
Anyway, holding the last four ounces to day 10 at room temp isn’t what I or I expect most people are really planning to use the device for, but I just thought I’d add a data point in how the wine holds up.
Good observation. Might try refrigeration for storing that long. Couldn’t really be happier with how well mine works. Hope they can resolve their business issues and get back on track. It really deserves much wider recognition.
I always use refrigeration, recorked after dinner & nothing else on my/Ladd wines and they stay in good shape and maintain the evolution that it’d expect. Taking the bottle out of the fridge an hour or two ahead, so it can slowly come up to ~cellar temp, is a good/helpful thing.
Was that the 13 Abigail Chris? Hopefully it showed some interesting wet leaves/forest floor the next day or two as it should have…if not lmk
Played around with the qikvin with Chris Seiber on Tuesday.
Very cool design. I took it apart and it’s quite simple, which is good engineering, and cleaning is a breeze.
Tried to order on Amazon…Two weeks later Amazon said they will not charge my card as the product was not available. ???
Same here. I’ll guess there are quality control issues so sales are on hiatus. It was supposed to be my birthday gift. Ordered a substitute gift on prime day that is in delivery limbo.