If you ever wanted to not drink a full bottle of wine in one sitting, Coravin has the products for you. It’s been three years since the company debuted the Model Two, which allows you to pour wine from the bottle without actually uncorking it. How does that work? Coravin devices replace the displaced liquid with argon gas, ensuring that wine stays fresh in the bottle with no danger of oxidizing. Now, the company debuted an even better version of its magical wine preservation opener. It’s called the Model Eleven, and with its smart capabilities, it may be your new best friend (after, of course, your bottle of wine).
The Coravin is actually quite simple. The device pierces the cork in the wine bottle with a hollow needle. As the wine flows out of the needle and into your glass, the Coravin pumps argon into the bottle to displace the wine and keep the flow going. Argon is a tasteless and odorless gas, so it doesn’t affect the flavor like oxygen does. When you’re done pouring, you simply pull the needle out. Compression from the neck of the wine bottle forces the cork to form an airtight seal when the Coravin needle is removed.
This process is the same whether you get the Model Two or the Model Eleven, but with the latter, you’re getting a true 21st-century device. The Bluetooth-enabled Coravin is not only connected but also fully automated, too. With its color LED display and intuitive icons, you will be notified as to when you need to charge, clean, or refill the argon gas capsules. Moreover, thanks to its Bluetooth capabilities, the Model Eleven connects to Coravin Moments, a “wine experience app” that allows users to “curate unique wine experiences incorporating food, film, music, moods, occasions, and more.” Sounds fancy.
Pumping gas into a wine bottle does put the glass at risk for breakage, so Coravin suggests you hold the bottle in a soft pouch to protect your hands. The device’s capsule load system is designed to make changing out argon gas capsules quick and easy, and the gas in Coravin’s containers is composed of 99.99 percent pure argon gas “to protect the remaining wine from oxidation”.
The Coravin Model Eleven doesn’t come cheap, though — the system will set you back $1,000, which is $600 more than the Model Two would cost you. We assume that, like the Model Two, the Model Eleven would also come with two Coravin Capsules of argon (each of which can last for about three bottles of cork-free drinking). Capsule refills are also available from Coravin in sets of three, six, and 24, depending, of course, on how much wine drinking you intend to do.
Updated on March 16: Coravin unveiled the new Model Eleven system, which is Bluetooth-connected.
