SWHighlander
Posts: 29
Joined: 12/9/2012 From: Destin, Florida Status: offline
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I've had my Coravin for about 2 years and use it frequently. It's one of the best presents I ever got from my wife. That said, it's a risk. I've accessed a bottle, waited several months, and then pulled the cork on it and re-tasted it -- along side an identical, previously un-accessed bottle. There is a difference that I can taste in about 1/3 to 1/5 of the bottles. Sometimes a subtle aeration (oxidation) that is not a bad thing in what it does to the wine, but sometimes its too much and on rare occasions the wine is ruined. The majority of wines I've accessed and then later tasted taste like they've never had a needle in it, though. It seems a bigger risk with a older cork. I personally would not use it with a 1962 Latour! A couple of caveats: 1) When you Coravin wine through a needle into a glass, the wine does not get aerated as much as when you pop and pour from the bottle. Sometimes that makes Coravin wine taste a bit tighter and even slightly effervescent (?from the Argon). That seems to dissipate quickly, say the first 5 -15 minutes. Most of the time I don't notice this effect, though. 2) You have to really be sure what kind of cork you are putting the needle into. The company suggests you don't even need to remove the foil wrap over the cork -- just the put the needle through it. But if you try to put a needle through a fake cork or worse, a half cork like what is used for LBV port, you'll ruin the needle. And that is a $70 mistake!
< Message edited by SWHighlander -- 1/2/2018 1:24:01 PM >
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