Want to know what a wine taste like without having to pop the cork?
Meet the Coravin 1000 Wine Access System, which uses a needle and inert gas to extract wine from a bottle without removing the cork.
Wine collector and inventor, Greg Lambrecht wanted to conduct side-by-side tastings of similar wines but did not want to open multiple bottles at one sitting (especially when his wife was pregnant and abstaining). “There was no way we could pull four or five corks in one evening. I wanted to change the way I experienced wine,” Lambrecht says.
The device uses a medical-grade non-coring needle to pass through the cork, reach into the bottle and extract wine with the help of argon, a gas that occurs naturally in air. Once the wine has been extracted and poured, the needle raises and exits the cork, which reseals. The process takes roughly 20 seconds. Each argon capsule is good for up to 15 pours of 5 ounces before it needs to be replaced. In addition to home use, the Coravin system can be applied for tastings in wine shops and wineries, and to expand and improve by-the-glass programs at restaurants and bars.
