My husband and I went on a wine tasting trip earlier this year and became completely fascinated by the new wine preservation system allowing you to taste wine in a bottle without ever removing the cork. The Coravin system fits securely on top of a bottle of wine and carefully extracts wine from a bottle with a slim needle and replaces the volume with Argon gas, an inert gas that is present ins the air we breath every day. In theory, this process makes it possible to enjoy a bottle at a future date without any oxidation. The users of the system we talked to noted some bottles were good for about 3 weeks. Coravin claims wine lasts without oxidation for an unlimited amount of time. The system is great for trying a wine that you have in storage to see how it is aging or helping your favorite bottle last for more than a few nights. Some wineries use Coravin in tasting rooms where they will pull an older vintage from their library for a tasting with the understanding that the wine will be able to last for weeks beyond your tasting. The Coravin is not cheap. The system is roughly $300 plus additional costs for replacement Argon gas canisters.
However, I just received a notice from the company that there is a risk of lacerations from breaking glass. They believe that damaged, irregularly shaped, etched, or large format bottles are the core of the issue. They ask users to inspect bottles carefully prior to use. Heavier bottles are best to use with the product. So far, seven injury incidents have been reported to the company. Coravin is asking users to stop using the system until a specially designed neoprene sleeve is approved and distributed for the system.
