Author Topic: Anybody buy a Coravin?  (Read 1872 times)

smoghat

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 258
Anybody buy a Coravin?
« on: January 23, 2019, 08:40:10 AM »
Seems like the least moustachean thing around, right? WRONG!

We’ve retired with a healthy ‘stache and we like wine. Our wine cellar is nice and full. Sorry two buck chuck fanatics, we like good values in the $10-$30 range and for special occasion something better that may have been aging for ten or fifteen years.   

We’re doing dry January and we’d like to drink less in February. One problem is, when you open a nice bottle of wine, it’s just not as good the next day, no matter what corks or stoppers we use. Coravin promises to change that since it injects argon into the bottle preserving the wine left in it.

I know, the math is questionable. http://www.killingtime.com/Pegu/2013/08/24/the-amazing-coravin-wine-system-and-the-math/ But, the advantages of saving the wine go beyond financial. If my wife has one glass of wine and I have two, that leaves two glasses that I will likely drink and that’s not good for me. Drink it tomorrow or pour it out you say, yeah right. So let’s see this as less a money saving measure for wine and more a health saving measure. Stoicism, discipline, blah blah. We can talk when I’ve turned off the gas heat in our house once and for all. 

Of course the initial cost is a big thing and there’s was a HALF OFF SALE ON BLACK FRIDAY and my wife didn’t get it for me. ARRGGGH. I’ll buy it on eBay or Craigslist and come close to that, I guess.

So, anybody have one and have reports?

tralfamadorian

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1217
Re: Anybody buy a Coravin?
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2019, 12:04:40 PM »
I have one and give it two thumbs up. It's easy to use and I haven't experience any oxygenation even when the bottle is down to the last few ounces. I'm the only wine drinker in the household and it's nice to be able to have a half glass of something without thinking about whether I want to finish it in the next few days (ie: how long a wine preserver would last).

You do have to buy little argon replacement canisters, which I'm not crazy about, but it's worth it for me because I buy relatively expensive wine and it stretches out the bottle for so much longer. If you drink more in one sitting and prefer less expensive bottles, then the math may not be as obvious for you.

eta: Taking a looking at the link you posted, it appears the author came to roughly the same conclusion. I fall into the camp of ~3-5oz/pours ~2x/wk and $50+/btl so the math falls on the coravin side pretty quickly. YMMV.

HipGnosis

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1824
Re: Anybody buy a Coravin?
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2019, 05:55:10 PM »
What model are you looking at?  Amazon has them from $180 to $400.

smoghat

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 258
Re: Anybody buy a Coravin?
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2019, 07:27:04 PM »
I haven’t started researching the models yet. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the encouragement BTW. I was thinking wouldn’t it be great to have a glass of white and then a glass of red for dinner without any concerns about the wine going bad.

tralfamadorian

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1217
Re: Anybody buy a Coravin?
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2019, 07:33:07 PM »
I bought the cheapest one. I didn't see much of a benefit for the fanciest ones and haven't had any issues with mine that made me wish I purchased a different model.

smoghat

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 258
Re: Anybody buy a Coravin?
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2019, 04:05:25 PM »
I went to my fancy wine store (which is actually a good deal since the wine there almost never sucks! plus they have free delivery to your dinner and I live in a town where most restaurants are BYOB) and talked to them. I could've bought it on Amazon (I want to have it bought for me on Black Friday but that didn't happen), better to support my friends (and yes, the owner would talk to me even if I quit booze, it's a cool little town). The One looked better than the more expensive Two. It is easy to use and just plain works. Plus, after I pull out the Coravin, it's not so tempting to have more wine since that means more gas… I love this thing!


FireHiker

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1141
  • Location: So Cal
Re: Anybody buy a Coravin?
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2019, 10:55:30 AM »
My brother is a major wine snob (he would laugh at your $10-$30 bottles...but he and his wife are NOT mustachian). He LOVES his Coravin and absolutely thinks it is "worth" it. I'm not sure which one he has but I could find out if you need a recommendation.