Coravin: Wine by the Glass (or Blind Taste :) Without Pulling the Cork

Have you checked out Coravin? It’s a tool that let’s you pour a glass (or blind taste, as my husband John likes to do) without pulling the cork on the wine bottle. Pretty cool.  It does the job by extracting the wine through a surgical-type, uber-thin needle that penetrates the cork without compromising it.  As the wine is extracted, the empty space freed up is filled with argon gas injected from a canister in the Coravin’s handle.  Argon is an inert gas (meaning it won’t react with and advance the deterioration of the wine).  It is also heavier than air, thus blanketing and protecting the surface area of the wine that would normally be exposed to air and oxygen in an open bottle, or beneath the cork of a closed one. Years ago at Windows on the World we used argon gas to preserve our opened wine-by-the-glass bottles at the end of service.  Spargeing each bottle and refrigerating ensured the glasses poured the next night would be as fresh as those served the first. Collectors can now enjoy a glass or a taste of their bottles to check their “readiness” or just stretch out the bottle over multiple occasions–the producers say the wines hold in unopened condition for at least a few weeks.  We are going to experiment ourselves with some bottles from my husband’s collection (I’m in his cellar in the video) and see what we learn. Master Somm candidates should start a Club Coravin–have one of the devices in your restaurant so you can do relevant practice blind tastings, and then sell the rest of the bottles by the glass over several weeks. Think how many of your wine-loving regulars would love to get the day’s email or Tweet knowing you’ve opened something super-cool, and are now offering it by the glass!