Coravin old bottle

[D_Mowe]

Hello all,

I’ve been lurking for some time now posting for the first time. I had a question regarding the use of a coravin with the standard needle for an older bottle. I’ve got an 83 Chave I’m bringing to dinner next week and want to make sure it’s not flawed. Do I run the risk of the older cork not resealing without the use of the vintage wine needle? Thanks so much

I always Coravin a wine before heading out to the restaurant. Old wines, young wines, ports… never had an issue at all. Leaking wouldn’t occur if the cork didn’t re-seal up for several hours and the bottle would have to be back on its side which you are most likely not doing. I see no problem in doing it.

Good luck!

Dustin

[Oren_S_a_g_h_e_r]

I’ve recently acquired a bottle of 1946 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Seleccion, and have been wondering whether to Coravin it, or if the cork would be too old for this method at this point.

[HoosJustinG]

What about pulling the cork and just spraying argon on top and then re-corking with a brand new cork. Then Coravin to your hearts content? You’d let some oxygen in, obviously, but over a period of years, how much more oxygen are you letting in (accounting for the argon blanket as well) in a few seconds than an old, inelastic cork is going to let in over the same period of time?

[Andrew_K]

I’m surprised with the amount of dissatisfaction with the Coravin. I’ve Coravin’d 89 Lafite and left the rest for almost 2 years without issue. I always use the Vintage needle. I also Coravin’d a DRC and drank over several months with no issue.

[Nicholas_C]

I’ve recently acquired a bottle of 1946 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Seleccion, and have been wondering whether to Coravin it, or if the cork would be too old for this method at this point.

They started bottling this in 2011 I believe so depending what batch yours was bottled the cork would be 9 years old max. So I think should be fine for the Coravin.

[Juliec]

All, similar but slight different question. Are there some new bottles that you don’t try and coravin due to the type of cork closure? (Diam5, 1by1, or other synthetic corks?) I try and wait to see that the cork has sealed before restoring to the wine cellar. Also sometimes cover with plastic. Would sealing with wax be good as well. Usually, I will only coravin a bottle once before pulling the cork within the year. Max twice.

Has anyone had Issue with length of the capsule use? Basically, if feels like if you use if frequently the capsule doesn’t lose much argon, but if you don’t use frequently. Once every few weeks to a month for a couple glasses, the capsule is already used up.

When do you use the fast pour needle? Got one as a spare future items during the last Coravin sale.

[Andrew_K]

I haven’t had issues with argon leakage over time. I have started buying knock off argon capsules because the Coravin ones are really expensive and they work great. I barely use mine every few weeks these days since my wife and I started drinking the same stuff. I use it mostly for tasting when I get a new arrival that I know I want to age for many years, but want to get a brief taste. I keep that bottle for Coravin and then taste again after another year or two. When I pull the unit out, the argon always seems fresh.

I have used it on a Diam. Didn’t know it at the time, but when I finally did pull the cork, I found out. It seemed to work just fine, although I do remember it being really hard to press the needle in, which makes sense when you realize how dense Diam corks are.

I used the fast pour needle once on a young, inexpensive bottle that I wanted a glass and then was going to open the rest the next night. If you’re doing tasting in a more industrial setting going through a bottle over the course of a few hours, it might be more useful.

[andrewkao]

I haven’t had issues with argon leakage over time. I have started buying knock off argon capsules because the Coravin ones are really expensive and they work great. I barely use mine every few weeks these days since my wife and I started drinking the same stuff. I use it mostly for tasting when I get a new arrival that I know I want to age for many years, but want to get a brief taste. I keep that bottle for Coravin and then taste again after another year or two. When I pull the unit out, the argon always seems fresh.

I have used it on a Diam. Didn’t know it at the time, but when I finally did pull the cork, I found out. It seemed to work just fine, although I do remember it being really hard to press the needle in, which makes sense when you realize how dense Diam corks are.

I used the fast pour needle once on a young, inexpensive bottle that I wanted a glass and then was going to open the rest the next night. If you’re doing tasting in a more industrial setting going through a bottle over the course of a few hours, it might be more useful.

Mind sharing what knock off capsules you get? Now I feel like a sucker for getting brand name!

[Andrew_K]

Mind sharing what knock off capsules you get? Now I feel like a sucker for getting brand name!

This is what I got. Used to be really cheap. The last batch I bought they raised the price by 50%, but still a lot cheaper than Coravin. Looks like they aren’t in stock now. You have to unscrew the black collar on a Coravin capsule with pliers and then push it onto the knock off brand in order for it to work with the unit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0141MWJP6/

ETA: looks like you might be able to get them here at a great price, although I haven’t purchased from them before: Pek Preservino Argon Gas Cartridges - Set of 4 - Winestuff

[Rich_Brown]

The hissing at the end is just argon coming out until the pressure equalizes to atmospheric. It shouldn’t make a difference in effectiveness of the seal. Back when I was using the Coravin, I turned it upright once the pour slowed. I didn’t care for the dribbling and time it took to wait for the pour to “finish.”

Never noticed any problem with leaving the needle in all evening either.

I gave up on the device because it was no good for aged wines with sediment and couldn’t be relied on to preserve younger wines more than a week or two.

That’s not correct, David. I have kept wines for months now with not the slightest degradation. I don’t use it for ‘old’ wines – but, even 2000 BDX do fine for a significant amount of time, Longer than the couple of weeks you reference.

When I pull the needle out, I stick a toothpick in the hole that is left. Whether that has any impact or not, I do not know. But, I use Coravin pretty religiously with good effect.

Jim

This mirrors my experience as well, and I was a pretty early Coravin adopter and use it a lot (especially as my wife hasn’t been drinking since December). I have a VERY low fail rate on younger-ish bottles (say 15 years or less) and as long as you use it properly (main thing being giving it a couple quick squeezes when you remove and before you insert into a new cork), its a total game changer when you want a glass but know you’re not going to finish the whole bottle. As others have mentioned, its more hit/miss with older bottles and I personally don’t risk it anymore. The corks are just too variable.

As long as your needs are in line with the above, i STRONGLY recommend the Coravin.

[Rich_Brown]

Mind sharing what knock off capsules you get? Now I feel like a sucker for getting brand name!

This is what I got. Used to be really cheap. The last batch I bought they raised the price by 50%, but still a lot cheaper than Coravin. Looks like they aren’t in stock now. You have to unscrew the black collar on a Coravin capsule with pliers and then push it onto the knock off brand in order for it to work with the unit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0141MWJP6/

ETA: looks like you might be able to get them here at a great price, although I haven’t purchased from them before: Pek Preservino Argon Gas Cartridges - Set of 4 - Winestuff

That is 100% the move with the Coravin. Soak a coravin cartridge in acetone overnight and then unscrew the black capsule on top. Buy generic THREADED argon cartridges (threaded is the key), screw on the top, use as normal. To me, the cost of the coravin cartridges was the one downside to the tool. This completley alleviates that concern

[andrewkao]

Awesome - thanks for sharing!

[Rob_M1]

I’ve recently acquired a bottle of 1946 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Seleccion, and have been wondering whether to Coravin it, or if the cork would be too old for this method at this point.

Oren - for this bottle, unless you are intending to try it but then not drink it again for a very long time, I’d just open it. It lasts a long time after opening without any change in the wine. I drank a bottle earlier this year slowly over 1-2 months.

[Stan_Y]

We bought one a month or two ago on sale. I am quite sensitive to oxidation and have not had acceptable results with any other solution (gas spray, Repour, etc.). But even if I can keep a bottle a few to several days without oxidation with this, highly aromatic wines still lose something. I believe other folks have written about this here, the theory being that fugitive aromas are lost into the headspace. The effect is quite noticeable, most recently with a 2017 Faury VV, which always has an exuberantly in-your-face blackberry-brambly aroma on opening, which is lost just a day later with the Coravin. So not a perfect solution, since wines are more dull even if not immediately and noticeably oxidized. But we drink enough $30-60 young wine that it’s very nice and still cost effective with the expensive capsules to be able to consume just 40-60% of the bottle and return to it a few days later.

[Rich_Brown]

We bought one a month or two ago on sale. I am quite sensitive to oxidation and have not had acceptable results with any other solution (gas spray, Repour, etc.). But even if I can keep a bottle a few to several days without oxidation with this, highly aromatic wines still lose something. I believe other folks have written about this here, the theory being that fugitive aromas are lost into the headspace. The effect is quite noticeable, most recently with a 2017 Faury VV, which always has an exuberantly in-your-face blackberry-brambly aroma on opening, which is lost just a day later with the Coravin. So not a perfect solution, since wines are more dull even if not immediately and noticeably oxidized. But we drink enough $30-60 young wine that it’s very nice and still cost effective with the expensive capsules to be able to consume just 40-60% of the bottle and return to it a few days later.

Make sure you ‘clear’ the needle (give it a couple quick squeezes) before and after each use to get rid of any oxygen. I’m also very sensitive to oxidation and as I mentioned above, have had excellent results with the Coravin for years

[Stan_Y]

Sounds good Rich, thanks for the tip.

[Anthony_C]

I haven’t had problems with “losing” a bottle to the coravin. I’ve checked on bottles to see if they were ready and when they weren’t I didn’t notice months or years later. We routinely do coravin pulls on old Sauternes, again without noticing a decline in quality.

Mostly we do what many here have said and pull the same bottle for a couple nights and then pull the cork. I pull the foil to check the cork (mostly because I lost a vintage needle to a synthetic cork – forgot it was installed and it bent). It also serves as a reminder as to which bottles I’ve pulled from. I’ve gotten better about “purging the needle” but was not perfect early on.