One of the problems of being a wine lover who collects expensive wine is that once you open the bottle and oxygen reaches the wine, the clock is ticking until the wine goes bad. Within a matter of days, a wine can go from a complex delight to losing its flavor. Coravin has tackled the problem by making it possible to pour wine from a bottle without actually opening the bottle and letting in any oxygen. And with the new Coravin Model 11 with Bluetooth, the process is automated and you can track how much wine you have left in each bottle you "open."
To bypass opening the bottle, the Coravin Model 11 inserts a thin needle filled with argon gas (the inert gas used in the wine bottling process) through the cork. As wine pours out through the Coravin device, argon gas replaces the volume of wine that is poured, so no oxygen enters the bottle. As cork is elastic, it expands and closes up around the thin needle hole as soon as the Coravin is removed.
The Coravin has tested wines that were first poured from 5 years ago that have maintained their flavor and integrity, aging as they would if the bottle had never been “opened.” Not only is the Coravin Model 11 perfect for grabbing a single glass from an expensive bottle of wine, it allows wine lovers to taste a bottle that is aging to see if it is ready to drink.
The new Coravin Model 11 wine opener has Bluetooth to communicate to a phone app. Instead of manually inserting the needle, you simply place the device on the device and wait for the light to change from blue, indicating it's paired with your phone, to green, indicating the needle is in place and you can start pouring. To pour, you tip the bottle, as you would pour out any glass of wine, but with the Coravin opener in place, the wine is routed through the Model 11. When you’ve poured the desired amount of wine, stand the bottle back up and pull out the opener.
The argon cartridges can last for up to 20 glasses of wine at a typical 5-ounce pour. The app displays how much gas is left in the cartridge and notifies you when it’s time to replace the cartridge or needle. Supplies can be ordered directly through the app.
The connected Coravin wine app can also track the wines you own, creating a virtual wine cellar. The app includes unique suggestions for wine pairings and since Coravin believes that “wine accentuates a moment,” instead of pairing wine with food alone, the app also offers suggestions for wine to go with certain songs or movies. Tell the app that you want to eat Mexican food while watching Stranger Things and the app will suggest a wine that is racy and edgy that will also pair well with guacamole. It can display a chart of your current wines on a grid so you can see what wine is closest to the suggestion.
The Coravin Model 11 and Coravin wine app will be released in September 2018 at $999. Currently, you can buy the non-automated Coravin Model Two for $299 on Amazon.
[image: Techlicious]
