Coravin conundrum

CellarTracker Main Site

Coravin conundrum

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Cellar Talk] >> General Discussion >> Coravin conundrum

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Coravin conundrum - 2/3/2024 4:23:04 PM

KPB

Posts: 4654
Joined: 11/25/2012
From: Ithaca, New York
Status: offline

With young Napa reds (and honestly, most Napa reds are still best young, even if the needle is budging…), you find that they are awkward and even nasty on pulling the cork, but knit together with air. I’m not big on splash decanting, but three or four hours can help. Even better is to drink one glass day one after a few hours, but finish the bottle on days two and three. The change is almost always amazing!

But Coravin doesn’t allow me to do this. I can CV a Rhône red or even a delicate white… no problem. Napa Cabernet, though, ends up unchanged from day one to teo to three. You always hit the wine at its worst!

Have others encountered this? Any clever ideas?

(Back to sipping my end of dry January 2019 Misc Rutherford, which is delicious… on day two, no CV)

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

Post #: 1

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/3/2024 5:29:46 PM

jmcmchi

Posts: 3215
Joined: 8/6/2013
Status: offline

Best idea is to drink Washington cab instead

Says he, grabbing a helmet and bulletproof vest

(in reply to KPB)

Post #: 2

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/3/2024 8:22:44 PM

eyewino

Posts: 370
Joined: 8/29/2018
From: Northern Iowa
Status: offline

Or stick with old-world wines.*

*ducking under his table, labeled "AFWE"

_____________________________

-Don

In Vino Veritas

(in reply to jmcmchi)

Post #: 3

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/3/2024 11:37:16 PM

Eric

Posts: 17317
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
Status: offline

Coravin 1/3 to 1/2 bottle into a small decanter. Dr8nk later. Meanwhile the bottle still has days to weeks of life ahead of it. Works well.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to eyewino)

Post #: 4

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/4/2024 8:47:42 AM

KPB

Posts: 4654
Joined: 11/25/2012
From: Ithaca, New York
Status: offline

Very clever. Eric, I like this suggestion. Thank you!

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 5

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/4/2024 9:21:26 AM

recotte

Posts: 6873
Joined: 1/19/2011
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Eric

Coravin 1/3 to 1/2 bottle into a small decanter. Dr8nk later. Meanwhile the bottle still has days to weeks of life ahead of it. Works well.

+1

For “small decanters,” I use either a 250ml or 500ml Erlenmeyer flask depending on how much I’m taking out of the bottle and how much air I think it may need.

_____________________________

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 6

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/4/2024 9:58:12 AM

Blue Shorts

Posts: 2779
Joined: 2/5/2008
From: Santa Cruz
Status: offline

Eric's method makes the most sense if you want 2-3 glasses of wine. When I want a single glass, I pour from the Coravin into a regular glass, then pour that through a Vinturi into a wine glass. I tried pouring directly from the Coravin into the Vinturi, but the pour rate is too slow for the Vinturi to work.

(in reply to recotte)

Post #: 7

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/4/2024 4:38:44 PM

KPB

Posts: 4654
Joined: 11/25/2012
From: Ithaca, New York
Status: offline

I have one of those, but my impression is that these Napa cabs want slow air for a lot longer, not a violent cascade…

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to Blue Shorts)

Post #: 8

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/7/2024 1:09:50 AM

diphthong

Posts: 24
Joined: 4/17/2023
Status: offline

Those DIAM corks will do a number on your Coravin needle.

(in reply to KPB)

Post #: 9

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/7/2024 7:59:44 AM

KPB

Posts: 4654
Joined: 11/25/2012
From: Ithaca, New York
Status: offline

Good point about DIAM. Perhaps in those cases I'll just end up dumping a third of the bottle rather than destroying the Coravin.

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to diphthong)

Post #: 10

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/7/2024 12:31:43 PM

recotte

Posts: 6873
Joined: 1/19/2011
Status: offline

I've never had a problem with DIAM corks. The only time I had an issue was with a natural cork that had some kind of hard inclusion, like a knot. The Coravin needle hit it and just crumpled. I pulled the cork with an ah-so, then cut it open to see what the deal was. If the needle had been 1/8" over in any direction, it would have been fine.

_____________________________

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

(in reply to KPB)

Post #: 11

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/10/2024 8:02:44 PM

Hollowine

Posts: 7251
Joined: 7/25/2008
From: Hood River, OR
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: recotte

For “small decanters,” I use either a 250ml or 500ml Erlenmeyer flask depending on how much I’m taking out of the bottle and how much air I think it may need.

Guessing your Round bottom boiling flasks are tied up with other 'hobbies'?

(in reply to recotte)

Post #: 12

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/17/2024 5:28:44 PM

davidandrose

Posts: 16
Joined: 12/31/2006
Status: offline

Honestly my experience has been that coravin'ing a bottle does allow for modest oxidation, and can age a bottle notably if I don't pull the cork within 7-10 days. I'll admit that I've only replaced the needle once or twice in 6+ years (maybe longer) but I have many wines that indicate "death by coravin" in a tasting note.

(in reply to Hollowine)

Post #: 13

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/18/2024 8:06:13 AM

pinotfanbg

Posts: 1
Joined: 4/15/2021
Status: offline

What I have found to work well for myself is to get a can of Private Reserve argon and a rubber bottle stopper. I rarely finish a bottle in less than three or four days at my reduced rate of consumption. My process is to take my nightly pour and then give the bottle a squirt of argon and quickly stopper the bottle. This has worked great and gives the wine a chance to aerate very slowly and evolve over several days without getting oxidized. Works well for up to about 5 days. I also have a Coravin, but rarely use it as I found that using the Coravin started the evolution process of the wine, and it was evolving on approximately the same timeline as my much less expensive and less hassle method.

(in reply to KPB)

Post #: 14

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/18/2024 9:05:49 AM

KPB

Posts: 4654
Joined: 11/25/2012
From: Ithaca, New York
Status: offline

I’ve used the argon things in the past. They do work well for many wines. A few pseem to be harmed and there are wines that do just as well unpumped and without the gas. Eventually I decided it was unecological and stopped using that system.

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to pinotfanbg)

Post #: 15

RE: Coravin conundrum - 2/18/2024 12:19:58 PM

Blue Shorts

Posts: 2779
Joined: 2/5/2008
From: Santa Cruz
Status: offline

Has anyone tried to keep bottles opened using a Coravin in the refrigerator? Refrigeration doesn't harm the wine and it slows down oxidation (and other chemical reactions).

I regularly put opened bottles in the refrigerator (no Coravin) and it's good for keeping wines "fresh" for a few days or more. I would assume that putting the Coravin'd bottles in the fridge would work well.

(in reply to KPB)

Post #: 16