A New Way to Drink Wine

The first time I heard of the Coravin was at a high-end wine tasting in Napa, at a winery that was doing a tasting of its archives. Instead of opening the precious bottles, some of which were valued at thousands of dollars, they used the Coravin to take wine out of the bottle without exposing it to air.

I was amazed at this revolutionary way to enjoy a wine collection slowly over time, and the ability to try each bottle again and again to see how it changes with age. Even though our own wine collection is in its infancy, it’s still nice to try some of those nicer bottles of wine that we plan to put away.

I’ve mentioned my love of Cultivar wine frequently here on A Side of Sweet. No matter how many wines I try, they are still a favorite that I return to again and again. They are high quality and I swear each one instantly becomes a new favorite. One of the benefits of joining their wine club is that we not only have nice wine on hand to drink right now, but we also put away a bottle or two each quarter to enjoy in the future. The Coravin has given us the best of both worlds – the ability to enjoy our Cultivar wine now and also for years to come.

In the past, Pat and I have shied away from opening a nice bottle of wine when it’s just the two of us, unless it’s a special occasion. This is especially true on weeknights, when we just want to have a glass and don’t want to worry about not finishing the bottle. Wasting good wine is the worst! With our Coravin though, we have the ability to have just a glass – which means even though we are enjoying much higher quality wine overall, we are actually spending less.

The Coravin works by inserting a thin needle through the cork and into the wine. The wine is then pumped out and the space is replaced with neutral argon gas. This inert gas doesn’t change the taste or composition of the wine like exposing it to air would – meaning no oxidation. This means the wine can be put aside to age for more months, years or even decades! There’s no pressure to drink the entire bottle at once.

Take this Cultivar 2012 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon for example. We opened it when we received our wine club shipment at the beginning of November and we’ve been having a glass here and there for the last month! It’s is one of my favorite wines I’ve ever had – and that says a lot! I think it’s the notes of blackberry and current with just a hint of espresso. And it’s so bold and intense! It’s been such a luxury to savor it a little bit at a time.

I assure you, Coravin has no idea I’m writing this post. This is just an amazing device that has changed how we enjoy wine, for the better. It’s definitely an investment, but the way I look at it, it’s allowing us to make those really special bottles last longer, which will pay for itself in the end.

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Thanks to Cultivar wine for providing the wine we enjoyed in this post! Want to try Cultivar wine for yourself? Use the code ‘CultivarWineASideofSweet’ to enjoy 10% off your first order.