Wine Squirrel Preservation and QikVin

[jnbrown]

That’s great. Look forward to your impressions and review.

I’ve gotta say, this thing seems awesome so far!! LOVE the functionality of being able to simply tilt and pour wine as needed vs. The wine Squirrel where you have to untwist/release the stopper to pour, and then reset it again (which obviously exposes the wine to more air).

If this follows through with the actual preservation aspect…we have a real winner here. Will report back next week!

Thanks for the reco Jim!

Ha! So glad you like it. When I was looking at the different devices and imagining using them the QikVin just seemed to be the best overall solution to the problem. As you say using it couldn’t be simpler, and preventing any air contact after decanting is a big plus. Don’t know why it hasn’t gotten wider recognition.

Look forward to your future reports.

Am I missing something here?
When you pour the wine from the bottle into the cylinder you are oxygenating it.
Is the amount of oxygen not enough to affect the wine for a week or two?

Thanks

[Philip_G]

Rich,

Thanks for the review.
Why would you still use the Coravin on younger bottles?
It seems the squirrel would save costs on Argon cartridges, unless that is not a concern.
Or maybe you want keep these stored for an extended time after opening?
I have a Pungo which I have tended to over use.
If I don’t know if I am going to finish a bottle with 2 or 3 days I will use the Pungo.
But I have trying to use it less.

I know you asked Rich, but for me, I usually have 4-5 bottles which I’ve taken 1-2 glasses by Coravin, drinking them over about a month depending on what I feel like drinking. The QikVin isn’t good for this type of use but agree seems like a good option for having a partially drunk bottle at the end of an evening. I usually throw some argon gas in there and try to drink it in the next couple of days.

[Jim_Summers]

I’ve gotta say, this thing seems awesome so far!! LOVE the functionality of being able to simply tilt and pour wine as needed vs. The wine Squirrel where you have to untwist/release the stopper to pour, and then reset it again (which obviously exposes the wine to more air).

If this follows through with the actual preservation aspect…we have a real winner here. Will report back next week!

Thanks for the reco Jim!

Ha! So glad you like it. When I was looking at the different devices and imagining using them the QikVin just seemed to be the best overall solution to the problem. As you say using it couldn’t be simpler, and preventing any air contact after decanting is a big plus. Don’t know why it hasn’t gotten wider recognition.

Look forward to your future reports.

Am I missing something here?
When you pour the wine from the bottle into the cylinder you are oxygenating it.
Is the amount of oxygen not enough to affect the wine for a week or two?

Thanks

Clearly there is contact with air during the minute or so while pouring the wine into the QikVin carafe. As soon as the piston is pushed up to force out the air at the top there’s no further air contact at all. So far to my taste the impact of that brief exposure hasn’t resulted in a significant negative influence over a week’s time. The QikVin folks did have an independent lab measure the oxidation over days and compare it to other devices. The results show if refrigerated the oxidation level stays very low, comparable to the Coravin. But regardless the taste is what I care about and all I can say is after using it with 5 bottles it’s easily good enough for me to keep using it, and much better than the vacuum and gas options I’ve tried in the past.

[Rich_Brown]

Rich,

Thanks for the review.
Why would you still use the Coravin on younger bottles?
It seems the squirrel would save costs on Argon cartridges, unless that is not a concern.
Or maybe you want keep these stored for an extended time after opening?
I have a Pungo which I have tended to over use.
If I don’t know if I am going to finish a bottle with 2 or 3 days I will use the Pungo.
But I have trying to use it less.

You nailed it Joel - if its a younger wine and I’m not sure when I’ll finish the bottle (i.e. it could be longer than a week or so), then I’ll use the Coravin as I’m more than happy with how wines hold up over an extended period of time.

For the QikVin of WineSquirell, I haven’t done any extensive testing yet, but I wouldn’t be as confident that the wine would still be fresh after a week and a half or so given the fact that it is exposed to air when you transfer from the bottle to the device. But for shorter term preservation or for wines where I wouldn’t trust the cork/coravin, im really digging both the QikVin and WineSquirell

[AAgrawal]

Ha! So glad you like it. When I was looking at the different devices and imagining using them the QikVin just seemed to be the best overall solution to the problem. As you say using it couldn’t be simpler, and preventing any air contact after decanting is a big plus. Don’t know why it hasn’t gotten wider recognition.

Look forward to your future reports.

Am I missing something here?
When you pour the wine from the bottle into the cylinder you are oxygenating it.
Is the amount of oxygen not enough to affect the wine for a week or two?

Thanks

Clearly there is contact with air during the minute or so while pouring the wine into the QikVin carafe. As soon as the piston is pushed up to force out the air at the top there’s no further air contact at all. So far to my taste the impact of that brief exposure hasn’t resulted in a significant negative influence over a week’s time. The QikVin folks did have an independent lab measure the oxidation over days and compare it to other devices. The results show if refrigerated the oxidation level stays very low, comparable to the Coravin. But regardless the taste is what I care about and all I can say is after using it with 5 bottles it’s easily good enough for me to keep using it, and much better than the vacuum and gas options I’ve tried in the past.

This is a very interesting graph, mostly because it shows that the Coravin has a fairly significant step up at about a week. I think it is noticeable, and even more so after 2-3 weeks. I was wondering why Coravin didn’t release this type of objective data, and now we know…

[Rich_Brown]

Circling back on this to say that the QikVin is seriously awesome!! I’m pretty blown away with how well it works both in terms of preservation, and just pure functionality. Gently pour the wine in immediately after opening, push the piston/wine up to the top, and you’re good to go! You can tilt/pour wine as needed and its kept wine in great shape for me up to at least 2.5 weeks (I just haven’t tried it for any longer than that). And this is with both aged and newer wines!

Great call Jim - appreciate you calling the QikVin out on this thread. Its a great device and definitely better than the Wine Squirrel

[G_D_y_e_r]

It is available on Amazon for $99. But I take your point. I guess I would defend my “investment” in it by pointing out it’s much cheaper than a Coravin both upfront and ongoing cost. They have published independent lab tests that show it’s as effective as the Coravin at preventing oxidation, and it doesn’t have the reported intermittent cork issues. I can only say the benefit for me of opening up better wines without waste is more than worth the price, but as always YMMV.

For some reason, it seems quite reasonable at $99. Seriously! Now I’m tempted.

A real advantage to the plunger/piston type of preserver is that it prevents not just oxidation but evaporation of volatile aroma compounds. I don’t see how injecting Coravin argon is ever going to prevent some aroma loss.

^This. Retaining aromatics is the next biggest issue after mitigating oxidation. Minimizing head space is really the only way to limit volatile aroma loss.

On a side note, I mentioned using varied size swing tops as a low head space solution for short term preservation. I have noticed that since I’ve kept them in a small cellar temp fridge, it acquires beautiful perfumes overnight–there is some aromatic (and oxygen the other way) diffusion through the swing top stopper!

So I’m heavily considering the QikVin at this point, as it is an elegant solution to this problem. The upfront cost is significant, but I like the zero ongoing cost aspect is great, assuming it has a decent use like (10+ years).

[Rich_Brown]

It is available on Amazon for $99. But I take your point. I guess I would defend my “investment” in it by pointing out it’s much cheaper than a Coravin both upfront and ongoing cost. They have published independent lab tests that show it’s as effective as the Coravin at preventing oxidation, and it doesn’t have the reported intermittent cork issues. I can only say the benefit for me of opening up better wines without waste is more than worth the price, but as always YMMV.

For some reason, it seems quite reasonable at $99. Seriously! Now I’m tempted.

A real advantage to the plunger/piston type of preserver is that it prevents not just oxidation but evaporation of volatile aroma compounds. I don’t see how injecting Coravin argon is ever going to prevent some aroma loss.

^This. Retaining aromatics is the next biggest issue after mitigating oxidation. Minimizing head space is really the only way to limit volatile aroma loss.

On a side note, I mentioned using varied size swing tops as a low head space solution for short term preservation. I have noticed that since I’ve kept them in a small cellar temp fridge, it acquires beautiful perfumes overnight–there is some aromatic (and oxygen the other way) diffusion through the swing top stopper!

So I’m heavily considering the QikVin at this point, as it is an elegant solution to this problem. The upfront cost is significant, but I like the zero ongoing cost aspect is great, assuming it has a decent use like (10+ years).

I don’t think you’ll regret the purchase. Strong reco by Jim - QikVin is a great device! Surprising there hasn’t been much chatter about it up to this point.

[Jim_Summers]

For some reason, it seems quite reasonable at $99. Seriously! Now I’m tempted.

A real advantage to the plunger/piston type of preserver is that it prevents not just oxidation but evaporation of volatile aroma compounds. I don’t see how injecting Coravin argon is ever going to prevent some aroma loss.

^This. Retaining aromatics is the next biggest issue after mitigating oxidation. Minimizing head space is really the only way to limit volatile aroma loss.

On a side note, I mentioned using varied size swing tops as a low head space solution for short term preservation. I have noticed that since I’ve kept them in a small cellar temp fridge, it acquires beautiful perfumes overnight–there is some aromatic (and oxygen the other way) diffusion through the swing top stopper!

So I’m heavily considering the QikVin at this point, as it is an elegant solution to this problem. The upfront cost is significant, but I like the zero ongoing cost aspect is great, assuming it has a decent use like (10+ years).

I don’t think you’ll regret the purchase. Strong reco by Jim - QikVin is a great device! Surprising there hasn’t been much chatter about it up to this point.

Hey, just noticed the responses in this thread. Glad it’s being appreciated as much by connoisseurs as by this humble journeyman. Being a glass-a-day wine drinker it’s also radically changed my buying perspective. Just finished a nice bottle over a week and savoring the consistency every day. Regarding its longevity I noticed on their web site you can supposedly order replacement silicone rings, which other than the one-way valve is the only wear point, so hopefully they’ll be making them for quite a while. One reason I jumped into this forum as a noob and tried to bring it some attention. Once I realized how well it’s designed and works, just felt compelled to try to spread the word. Happy imbibing!

[ray_ormand]

Just bought the QikVin for $92 on eBay. Thanks for the recommendation; meets my needs.

[Rich_Brown]

Just bought the QikVin for $92 on eBay. Thanks for the recommendation; meets my needs.

Nice man! Let us know what you think! I’ve been beyond impressed and now own 2 of them.

[Frederico_L_e_e]

Can you store the Qikvin bottle sideway without leaking?

[AAgrawal]

I left some wine in the wine squirrel for 4 days and it definitely had some oxidation. So now I’m going to try the qikvin and see if it is better.

[Jim_Summers]

Can you store the Qikvin bottle sideway without leaking?

I haven’t tried it but the instruction sheet says “if you want to lay it on its side put a piece of cellophane wrap around the T-top before inserting it into the bottle”. The top doesn’t seal tightly, it’s just cosmetic. My assumption is that since there can be a few drops of wine in the neck above the valve after pouring they’re suggesting the cellophane to prevent dripping. The piston doesn’t move until the bottle is well past horizontal so being on its side shouldn’t be a problem as far as leaking or any air getting to the wine. I’ll try it next time I have wine in it and post the results.

[Rich_Brown]

Can you store the Qikvin bottle sideway without leaking?

Hmmm. You ‘probably’ could, as you have to tilt the bottle pretty far down to move the piston/pour wine out…but it would definitely make me a little nervous.

Out of curiosity Is there a reason that you’d need to store it sideways?

EDIT: What Jim said

[Rich_Brown]

I left some wine in the wine squirrel for 4 days and it definitely had some oxidation. So now I’m going to try the qikvin and see if it is better.

Yep, I was pretty happy with the Squirrel, but QikVin is definitley a superior device. Especially since the wine is not exposed to addiitonal oxygen after the first time you pour the wine in/push up the piston…where as with the wine Squirrel, you have to break the seal every time you pour more wine.

[Jim_Summers]

Can you store the Qikvin bottle sideway without leaking?

I haven’t tried it but the instruction sheet says “if you want to lay it on its side put a piece of cellophane wrap around the T-top before inserting it into the bottle”. The top doesn’t seal tightly, it’s just cosmetic. My assumption is that since there can be a few drops of wine in the neck above the valve after pouring they’re suggesting the cellophane to prevent dripping. The piston doesn’t move until the bottle is well past horizontal so being on its side shouldn’t be a problem as far as leaking or any air getting to the wine. I’ll try it next time I have wine in it and post the results.

Just an FYI, I kept the QikVin on it’s side over night and it worked fine. I did put plastic wrap around the top as they suggest but there were no leaks or any bubbles in the wine, so shouldn’t be a problem if that’s how you need to use it.

[Sherr1_Shap1r0]

I am often a solo wine drinker and rarely have more than 1-2 glasses. I’ve tried everything - coravin, pungo, vacuvin, boston rounds. This seems to be the most simple, easy and effective solution to the issue.

Thanks to everyone who has posted here. I just ordered a QikVin on Amazon and can’t wait to start using it. Will report back for sure.

[M1ke_S]

Do the Qikvin users on here store the red wines in the refrigerator? Can it be left on the counter at room temperature?

[AAgrawal]

Well, the Qikvin is terrible. I bought from Amazon and it arrived defective. The chamber doesn’t hold a seal and lets air in almost immediately (within minutes). I contacted the seller and they will only return it if I pay return shipping, even though it is defective. If it’s this finicky right out of the box, I can’t imagine the seals are reliable over time. I do not recommend…