Community Tasting Note
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fc1910 wrote: 85 points
October 5, 2019 - From coravin: the next annoyance, as the 3star restaurant Aqua at Wolfsburg is charging 20€ for a glass of mature Bordeaux GC this restaurant is charging the double, a barefacedness!
Never again.
the wine is showing a little subdued, better flabby, I do often think that coravining is not perfect for most of the bottles, but today no chance to get a better red to pair my Ibericocheek, some cassis, but overall a not convincing showing, lacking the tension of a GC, **1 person found this helpful 3,566 views
9 Comments
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chatters commented:
10/6/19, 8:11 PM - Yeah, I've found that the challenge with Coravin is that it's simply like popping and pouring. Air and time is required (as it would be if you opened a bottle of wine) which means it's a massive pain in the backside if you order a glass to go with food...unlike if you usually ask for a glass of wine at a restaurant which is usually from a bottle that's already been opened. This was a painful (and financially frustrating) lesson.
cheers, chatters -
fc1910 commented:
10/7/19, 10:16 AM - Hi chatters,
thank you for your thoughts about coravined Bordeaux!
I have to admit, I am and never was a fan of this system. I bought one some years ago, but many bottles from my cellar disliked being poured like this.
I tried a lot, like a decent decant, but overall the experiences are unsatisfactory.
In my observations wines are and stay a little diffuse poured by coravin
At first I stopped pouring high class bottlings, now I use this sytem less than once a month.
So why did I asked for a glass of coravined wine in this restaurant?
I think, I did not become aware about my experiences during the meal or maybe hoped for the best!
Anyway, would like to know the opinion of other crowd members using coravin.
Cheers from Hamburg -
chatters commented:
10/8/19, 2:14 AM - Hi fc1910,
I'm the yin to your yang on this one. I got my Coravin about five years ago and I use mine all the time.
I will say it took me a little while to get used to it - especially the decanting issue - & I do have my concerns about its ability to introduce cork taint.
Having said that it has completely revolutionised my approach to tasting & drinking wine: wines that I would wait years to try I can try yearly. If I'm cooking for friends I can try a few wines against the food to make the best match. If I want white when I get home from work and red with supper but I don't want to, ahem, get to tipsy then it's perfect.
cheers, chatters -
fc1910 commented:
10/8/19, 7:25 AM - Hi again chatters,
this sounds great!
I am aware that I may be wrong. All my observations and tasting impressions are admittedly subjective.
Honestly I do envy your satisfaction using coravin!
That said without any more opinions and experiences from other CT- user so far I will try this system again soon.
Cheers from Germany -
fc1910 commented:
10/8/19, 10:05 AM - Hi chatters you motivational trainer,
thinking about using coravin during the last hours, and now, just some time later, it happened! :)
There are some questions to a very experienced user: down to which level should one pour a bottle in your honest opinion?
Are there differences due to the origins of the bottles?
Do one have to clean the needle everytime if you pour a new bottle, even if that one is from same origin?
Cheers, fc1910 -
chatters commented:
10/10/19, 2:16 AM - Hello again FC1910,
Oh, I don't think you're wrong at all - Very much horses for courses as they say...regarding your questions:
the lowest I've gone is about a third of a bottle left - at that point I just tend to, ahem, crack the top and get drinking.
When you say "Are there differences due to the origins of the bottles?" do you mean is there variation of the wine based on the region and/or grape varietal make up or do you mean based on where I have purchased the wine e.g. Auction, Liquor store, cellar door etc? For the former I find that the impact is only about how much air I need to give the wine - those that are younger and/or more robust (think Cabernet over Gamay for instance) need more time to open up. The purchase source doesn't seem to have much impact
If the wine is 'clean' i.e. without faults then I just sparge to clear the needle but if it's e.g. corked or oxidised then I rinse the system before sparging.
Additionally when I bottle has been Coravined I tend (depending on age) to leave it standing up for up to a couple of hours to let the cork reseal on itself. Also I only use a vintage needle (the skinniest) in order to have minimum impact on the cork. Finally when I pour from Coravin the most I would usually take is about 100ml at any one time.
I have a question for you though it's not wine related: Do you support FC St Pauli?
cheers, chatters -
fc1910 commented:
10/10/19, 6:34 AM - Hello chatters,
thank you for your long and helpful explanations!
Yes, if one is not a native english-speaker, the expressions are sometimes containing somewhat lack of clarity.
Origin of the bottle= State, country or area of cultivation.
And you are right, I am a full member of FC St.Pauli Hamburg and watch most of their matches live at the stadium.
More than a decade ago, my Riesling-aficionado group, all members or at least supporters like me, decided to visit wine areas in the south west of Germany if there is a match of our club down abroad.
Unfortunately St.Pauli in most seasons did not play well. But over the years we made friends with a lot of the best producers. From the Nahe Dönnhoff, Schäfer-fröhlich, the two Schneiders , Bapt. Schäfer and Poss with very good burgundy like bottlings.
Rheinhessen KPK, Wittmann, Dreissigacker.
From the Pfalz for instance Christmann, Karl Schäfer, Mosbacher and Weingut Pfeffingen.
From Baden for instance Johner, Franz Keller
In these areas Nahe/Pfalz/Rheinhessen, if you leave Franfurt/ Mainz to the south west, nearly every village flags of the "Roten Teufel" red devils Kaiserslautern are being flown. Sadly they went a league down a season ago.
Therefore we will visit the Rheingau in next spring. The away match will be at Wiesbaden.
So if you like to visit Hamburg some time or other, we would be pleased to welcome a Ct-user from the new world in our constantly sold out homeground. (and integrated winebar!)
Cheers Christian (fc1910) -
chatters commented:
10/14/19, 5:42 PM - My apologies for the tardiness of my reply...
Oh that sounds wonderful. What a superb idea. How civilised to tie the sport to the wine!
And thank you for your kind offer; one which I might be able to take you up on next year - I won't be able to get to a match as I'm planning to come to Europe in June/July but I am spending a week in Germany with a Swedish friend with the single intention of furthering my knowledge (and love) of the joyous juice that is German Riesling. I also hope to indulge in some Pinot Noir.
It would be a delight and a pleasure to meet you,
warm regards,
chatters -
fc1910 commented:
10/14/19, 8:00 PM - Hi chatters,!
No problem, as for most of us like me, wine is a hobby.
So sometimes there are other things to do first.
Hamburg is about 3,5 hours from the nearest vineyard by ICE-train, but there is a lot to do and visit in this as we call it cause of its big port "Tor zur Welt" gateway to the world.
If your visit leads you to the north, near Sweden, feel invited to share some very fine Riesling from my well filled cellar.
Warm regards to Australia