New wine system that lets you enjoy special wines without opening them up

A new system for removing wine from a bottle without removing the cork has been launched. The Coravin Wine Access System allows you to withdraw a desired quantity from a sealed bottle via a hollow needle that pierces the foil and cork. The remaining wine is then pressurised with Argon gas, which slows oxidation. The cork reseals itself naturally, and the wine in the bottle continues to evolve as it would normally without exposure to air.

Coravin inventor Greg Lambrecht has refined the product over 13 years, testing various gases and pressures on samples drawn at different times from the same bottles. He says he typically has several bottles on the go for years and even shared a bottle of 1961 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion with about 14 people over the course of four years.

Charles Curtis MW, ex-Christie’s Hong Kong wine chief and Coravin advisory board member, says the system is unique and he has blind-tasted numerous wines preserved using Coravin against fresh samples, with sommeliers, Masters of Wine and other experts, and they could not detect any difference.

The Coravin 1000 System is US$299 and is currently being used in restaurants including New York’s Del Posto (co-owner Joe Bastianich is a Coravin investor), Eleven Madison Park and San Francisco’s Acquerella.