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I use a set of reusable 4oz and 8oz and 12oz glass bottles with plastic cone caps from amazon. I decant my wine without splashing into an appropriately sized bottle for my typical serving and cap. The key is to fill to the top of the bottle without any extra air on top. Red wines last for months with minimal degradation and the whites usually last the same if the decant does not introduce too much O2. The bottles and caps are reusable and last forever with no recurring costs. I use blue painters tape and a fine point sharpie to conveniently label the bottles. IMO better quality and a lot less expense than corovain and better quality than the vacuvin.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I'm a big time whisky guy and the problem of solving the wine oxidation problem was/is the biggest hurdle for someone like me who wants to dabble and lightly enjoy wine. I drink my alcohol in small quantities when the mood strikes. While I'm prepared to finish a wine when I open a wine, I don't see that happening over a period of less than 10 days at the barest minimum and more likely over a month. Something like this was suggested on r/wine but there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm for it. Now I know.
Agreeing with the others who pour into empty bottles and seal. There's basically no cost. From my experience, the key is pouring the wine immediately after opening into the empty bottle. I usually use 375mL bottles with those plastic caps. (This is actually how we pull samples at the winery from barrels or tank to send to the lab for testing.) This principal is also why we top barrels to near the bungs or top up tanks, only using expensive Argon or Nitrogen when we don't have enough wine to top a tank. I never found the Vacuvin to be very helpful and eventually threw them all away. In fact, I often wondered why you'd want to create a vacuum in the headspace above an aromatic wine, as that would literally suck more aromatics out of the wine, though the amount could be nearly insignificant. Thank you, Matt, for the very well thought out process of looking at the differences. And interesting about the way Repour uses copper.
When using a Coravin it is essential to give a quick short blast of gas just before pushing the needle through the cork. There is oxygen in the needle and manifold of the Coravin and if you don’t purge it you will introduce it into the bottle. It makes a noticeable difference in wine longevity especially with more delicate wines.
You are the first wine expert on RU-vid I have seen even mention Repour, and I love it! I have been using Repour corks ever since my first virtual tasting during the Pandemic when the Master Sommelier sent them to us with the full bottles we were going to taste, and I swear by them now. Great value for money and perfect for me anytime I want to do a tasting with lots of bottles or anytime I want to open something I know I can’t finish same night! Thanks for telling more people about Repour, it certainly changed my wine life!
Matthew, first of all, I just want to say that you have some great videos. There’s one thing I would change if you performed this test again. If you use a Vacuvin or a Repour, unless you are very intentional, it’s more likely that you pop the cork and then let the wine be exposed to oxygen until you’re done drinking it for that session, which would probably be a lot longer than just a few seconds as was shown in the video. That would give both Coravin models the advantage, as the pivot you cap off quickly and the Coravin you never open. I’m partial to the Coravin and the price of the gas capsules keeps dropping so I’m probably going to stick with that but the Repour is an interesting concept!
Great test. We did something similar with just the Coravin and testing white and red wines over several intervals over a two month period. We concluded it was good for upto two weeks but degradation was noticeable. Most of us agreed that one of the older white wines was not fit to serve guests. I changed over to Repour a couple of years ago and have been happy with ease of use, cost and most importantly, its effectiveness.
In all honesty, the Vacuvin states it helps keep wine fresh for only 10 days, so including it in a 4 week test is a little unfair. For the price and ease of use, the Vacuvin is great for keeping the remainder of an open red for a few days.
The Coravin works better on a natural cork that will reseal with the moisture of the wine. A composite cork, rubber cork or lower quality cork doesn't reseal completely. This fact plays into my decision of what wines I will use the Coravin on. But I will try the Repour for those wines that don't use good quality, one piece natural cork. Thanks MH!
I would have thought it's more a 1 week period that people say using a vacuvin would be interested in the results e.g. drinking a bottle during the course of a week, or one weekend to the next. Would be great to see the outcome over that period of time. For the average person I don't think you would often be keeping an opened bottle for a 3 to 4 week period
I have been having some varied results with my Coravin. It has been most noticeable when using it on vibrant, fresh, fruity, young red wines. Recently a 2021 Clare JC Langhe Nebbiolo G. D. Vajra, which has a very fresh profile. After a week, with maybe 2/3 of the bottle left, it completely lost that bright freshness that I bought it for. I tested this by using a Coravin on new bottle, and the difference was extreme. Now, I have not been storing them on their side, and it is possible that the liquid covering the cork protects the wine from additional oxygen ingress. I am not sure. One thing I plan to try is to use a silicon stopper that slips over the top of the bottle and makes an airtight seal. I'm thinking to get some cheap beaujolais nouveau and do some tests. One with the wine stored upright, one with the wine stored on its side, one with the wine stored upright with the silicone stopper on top, and a fourth that hasn't been touched. I have seen the comment about using a short blast of gas before inserting, and will try that too. If anyone finds this comment and wants to know the results, I can report back here once it's complete.
All these systems have failed me far too often for red wines. Lost of aromas and oxidation to some extent. Nothing like good old transfer to small bottle technique. Repour - bad design, insertion occasionally doesn't seal well. It also takes quite some space to store. Encork was a similar concept, but does not practically work. Coravin - half of the time, lost the explosive aromas within a few days, and unfortunately after a few weeks Vacuvin - garbage
Welsh Toro's wine preservation system - My gullet. Very interesting and enjoyable comparison Matt. Most of my wine really doesn't hang around too long once opened but, being the complete donut I am, I sometimes forget I've opened a bottle and open a second one the next day. I usually discover the first one sitting on a shelf several days layer and on it's vinegar journey. I think the Repour sounds like the best, no hassle, option for me.
I have a system that works flawlessly and is different than the ones you showed. I always have a couple of cleaned and empty half bottles and 0.2L bottles laying around with a screw cap. If I don't want to finish a wine anytime soon, I put the remainder in one of those bottles and fill it completely to the brim. The longest one I ever stored this way was a red for almost a year and as far as I can remember it was still great.
In the beginning, I used the Air Pump plus very cold fridge for all of our wines. Then, I realized that fridge was the gem so the Air Pump was unnecessary (cork/screw cap being more than sufficient). For the aromatic unoaked white wines we enjoy, the aromas and flavors stay more or less fine for weeks. For the reds (generally fuller bodied), they develop nicely as we work our way to the bottom of the bottle.
I think it’s worth giving vacuuvin its due. It’s not intended for long term storage. It’s for when you open a bottle in your restaurant or at home, serve or drink two glasses; and then at the end of the night, reseal and refrigerate for the following day, or rest of the week, where you’re guaranteed to finish the bottle. With that short term use case in mind, it’s absolutely invaluable, and the low cost of entry is laughably small. Some wines will have fallen off the very next day, so if you can get can save half a bottle from going bad, you’ve already recouped your investment. I’d actually argue that you’re foolish for using Coravin for any wine you intend to fully finish within a week, when as long as you’re drinking it in exactly two sittings, and therefore not agitating and aerating the bottle, you can spend a fraction of the cost, and just use vacuuvin.
Very good and informative video Matthew. I purchased a Coravin needle a few months ago. In addition to using the Coravin, i also put it in the fridge to further retard oxidation. But I definitely still taste a degradation in the wine ... especially when it's an older bottle. It's surely better than a vacuvin. But not perfect. I've never tried pouring into smaller bottles, but that makes sense. So i appreciate the users who have mentioned this here. Thank you again Matthew for taking the time to make all these videos. They are truly invaluable.
Thank you for watching! For my purpose, taking a small tasting pour out of a bottle and then storing it works great… However, if there is more wine taken out of the bottle with it (like in this test) I pick up a tad degradation too
This was so interesting! Thank you for doing this as I have struggled to keep my wine fresh since PLUM went out of business. I'll probably try the Repour now!
Thank you for doing this. As far as I know, no one has done this comparison on YT. Will Vacu Vin better preserve red wine for a week if it is kept in the fridge?
Could that be related to the cork? If you puncture a cork of a wine that is 20+ years old, I don't believe it'll reseal and leaves an opening to the environment.
Hello from norway, great video! I found a deal on "Chateau pichon lalande" selling for 168 dollar per bottle and they both have 2018 and 2019 vintage. Is this a great price and should I buy both or just go for the 2019 vintage? What do you think?
May I ask you when did you change the needle last time? It has been three years now that I have been using the same Coravin model, and around every one year I start noticing wines are not holding so well anymore and get easily oxidized, then I change the needle and the wines seem to "magically" hold again.
@@drmatthewhorkey Yes exactly, which is why I was wondering if recent Coravin use for you leading to oxidized bottles could be attributed to a needle problem. I find myself having to change the needle a bit more often than recommended (or maybe that's just my perception 😅). Anyway, very interesting video!
