For The Love Of Port

What are your thoughts on using this device?

Not what you've read ... but your own personal experience.


Here is more on Coravin if you'd like to comment on just what is shown here and not from your personal experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJW3pLn ... e=youtu.be

Yes, I definitely do--saves me throwing out lots of wine I've bought for $$$ just to take a few sips for the tasting notes I love to write (probably too extensive and full of information like human interest stories--I'm trying to write summaries of every TN but haven't really got into the habit.)

However, there are certain downsides: the free-flow needle also allows free flow out of the bottle top especially when stored on its side in the leCache. Have to stand the bottle up or use a smaller needle. Also, there's little way to separate wine from, say, crust in a port efficiently, and the act of pouring, which must cover the inside needle=tip, will definitely stir up the lees in some wines. However, I'm trying a half-bottle decanter poured straight on as a possible work-around.

Devising a Coravin that would do better is perhaps impossible, but maybe not. However, the savings in expensive wine being thrown down the drain is worth much of these admittedly nitpicking things makes it worth it. And--they don't work with T-caps, Stelvins, the glass-stoppered bottles, and so forth.

And, without effective tested competition, as far as I know, they aren't cheap, but however worth it if you own lots of vintage or colheita portos north of $50 or so a bottle. But you'd better do the calculations yourself. How often do you find yourself using 4/5 of a bottle or less on occasion but later finding yourself pouring out more than 1/5 a bottle?