We have all been there – when you want a glass of red wine and your partner wants a glass of white. You open two bottles of wine and don’t end up finishing them. Days later you go to have a glass from these bottles and find the wine is no longer good.
What are you needs in a wine preserver system? Does it take you a few days to finish a bottle wine? A few weeks? Are fresh flavors in a wine something that you want and appreciate?
We are often asked how long a wine will last once it is opened so we decided to do an experiment. Eight of us at the winery tried five different wine preserver systems to test their effectiveness. For each system we opened a bottle of Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir, sipped a little, and then used the wine preserver. We came back to taste the wines eight days later. Here are the results:
Vacu-Vin
$13.99 at time of publishing
$5.99 at time of publishing
Description
A wine preserver with a vacuum pump, which extracts the air from the opened bottle and reseals it with a reusable rubber stopper.
Our Conclusion
Wines stay good for about five days before the freshness starts to fade. For most of us this preserver was just so-so. Wines did not appear as fresh as when we first opened it.
Repour
$17.99 for a 10 pack – www.repour.com
Description
Material inside the stopper continuously removes all of the oxygen from the air above the wine and from the wine itself, completely stopping the degradation process. As the Repour works to remove the oxygen, it also depletes its active ingredient, which is why its use is not unlimited.
Our Conclusion
Each Repour is good for one bottle of wine. We think this preserver works well overall.
Argon Gas
$10.99 at time of publishing
Description
Replaces the air that seeps into an open bottle with a balanced mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon to keep wine fresh.
Our Conclusion
We were surprised that this was as good as it was. However, wine did not stay as fresh as when we first opened it.
Pivot by Coravin
$109.99 at time of publishing
Description
Replaces oxygen in an opened bottle of wine with 100% food grade argon gas. This keeps your wine fresher longer.
Our Conclusion
Designed to keep a bottle of wine fresh for up to four weeks. With the Pivot cap you can store the wine on its side in your wine fridge. The wine in our experiment stayed fruity and bright.
Coravin
$279.97 (prices vary by model) – www.coravin.com
Description
Specially designed coated wine needle pierces gently through your wine cork allowing you to pour wine both quickly and smoothly. Argon gas, an inert gas used in the wine-making process, then enters the bottle protecting the remaining wine from oxidation.
Our Conclusion
Designed to keep a bottle fresh indefinitely. We found the Coravin definitely keeps wine fresh for a long time.
For personal use and use around the winery we are enjoying the Pivot. It is a great system if you have a reason to have multiple bottles open at one time. If you have a glass of wine only a few times a week, the Pivot allows you to enjoy a bottle over a month’s time. If you and your guests enjoy different wines, this is a great way to make everyone happy. Maybe you are pouring a Rose, Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir for Thanksgiving. This is a great system to preserve the wines that you do not finish and still enjoy them over the next four weeks.
I take a lot of wine classes and have to have multiple bottles open at once. Sometimes it can be 6 bottles! The Pivot allows me to taste through the wines and then preserve them so I can come back to the wine and study it some more over the coming weeks.
We have the Pivot in our Tasting Room, as well as some of the other wine preservers featured in our trial. On your next visit to Testarossa, ask a staff member to show them to you and explain how to use it and the benefits it allows you in your wine life, whatever that may be.
Cheers!
Sue Ryan, Lead Wine Educator
