Producers and consumers have been searching for ways to enjoy one or two servings of wine without opening (and potentially wasting) a bottle of wine. Box wine has risen in quality in recent years but while technological advances have allowed these containers to preserve freshness for relatively long periods, the quality of these wines (in general) is nowhere near that of bottled premium wines. Even single serving boxes resembling kid’s juice boxes leave one waxing nostalgic for a glass of day-old premium wine.
There is no pleasure in pouring a glass of wine from a bottle opened and re-corked the previous evening, only to find the wine oxidized. Enter the niche market: There are multitudes of solutions of making that precious bottle last longer. From complicated to simple, these preservations systems aim to do one ting: reduce contact between wine and oxygen. Vacuum systems remove air from the bottle, but there are questions about how complete the vacuum is. Furthermore, as some opponents of the vacuum method point out, a vacuum may also suck out the aromatic compounds from the wine. The other alternative is to flood the bottle with inert gas: usually Argon or a blend of Argon and other gasses. These are heavier than air and settle in a protective blanket on the surface of the wine without chemically interacting with it.
We decided to see if the commercially available, low cost wine preservation products make a difference in how a wine fares after opening. We selected four products priced at fifteen dollars and under for our simple experiment. These are readily available at most local wine stores and internet stores. For our experiment, we used five identical bottles (same wine, same producer, same case and same vintage – a 2004 Syrah-Grenache blend from the Santa Ynez Valley) - four to test each of the four preservation products and a fifth as a control.
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Each bottle was opened, an equal amount of wine was poured off and tasted to ensure the it was not corked. Each bottle was kept open for approximately 5 minutes. To simulate the bottle being open for a longer period of time as well as repeated pouring, the wine was gently swirled in the bottle for 2 seconds before preserving and sealing. The bottles were all stored upright in a dark place for 24 hours with a temperature range of 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Left to right: VacuVin Wine Saver, Private Preserve, Argyle Vacuum Pump and the Jokari Wine Air Vac. |
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Gas Method:
The “Private Preserve Wine Preserver” is a blend of Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Argon that retails for $9.95 per can for an advertised “120+ full uses”. Of note, this product does not contain CFCs and as such is environmentally safe. Instructions call for inserting the guide tube into the bottle and holding it against the side of the bottle, delivering one long (1 second) spray followed by four short sprays and replacing the cork. This product is easy to use, requires no cleaning or special storage.
Vacuum Pumps:
The “Argyle Vacuum Pump”, according to the manufacturer’s web site is a “combined stopper and wine pump" that retails for around $10.95 per unit. The package instructions direct the user to “…place the vacuum pump securely into the bottle...” and pump until resistance is felt. It is somewhat awkward to use. It is difficult to tell if it is placed correctly or sufficiently deep into the bottle and if a successful seal is forming. Pump action is stiff and rickety. The action feels poorly fitted and rickety suggesting cheep construction. Resistance is hard to ascertain.
“Vacuum Wine Saver” from VacuVin is a two-part system consisting of rubber stopper and pump. The manufacturer’s tag line for this product is “Click, the sound of freshness”. The dishwasher-safe (how easy is that?!) rubber stopper is inserted into the mouth of the bottle and the pump unit is placed on top. The interface of the two is simple and appears to have a lot of tolerance without the need for much accuracy in placement. The instructions indicate increasing numbers of pumps for decreasing levels of wine remaining in the bottle. The anticipated click (indicating that a sufficient vacuum is achieved) did not come but significant resistance was clear after 7 pumps (about that recommended for the level of wine in the test bottle). Squeezing the top of the stopper released the substantial vacuum, so we quickly resealed the test bottle. We attempted to obtain the ‘click’ by using the pump and stopper on an empty 375 mL bottle but were not successful. Nonetheless, there was an evident vacuum created each time as signaled by increasing resistance and a ‘gasp’ of air when the top of the stopper was squeezed after each trial. A package consisting of a base model pump (ours was white plastic, other finishes are more pricy) and two reusable stoppers retails for about $14.95.
The “Wine Air Vac” from Jokari is a one-piece wine pump with a long post which is inserted into the neck of the bottle. Three raised bands of rubber form a seal. Resistance is easily felt. The seal holds the vacuum well for 24 hours. This simple to use and clean pump retails for $7.99 on average for a plain finish pump (chrome finish is around $10.95) and sets of two are available for about $14.95.
The methodology for this experiment was very straight forward: a new bottle of the same wine was opened as a control. For reference, a glass of the wine poured off from one of the test bottles was kept out in the open for 24 hours. Please indulge us in a philosophical interlude, if you will, that each question dictates the answer. More precisely, it defines the range and options of possible answers. It is important, then to choose the question carefully. Our question for this experiment is: “Which of the selected preservation methods, keep the wine closest in aroma and flavor to a newly opened bottle?” To this means, the samples were smelled and tasted to ascertain which smelled and tasted most like a freshly opened bottle of the same wine. The individual samples were then ranked in decreasing order based on how closely they resembled the freshly opened bottle.
So now it’s time for the results of our experiment, the good news and the bad news, the long and the short of it. Drum roll, please...
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The bottom line is that all the preservation methods we tested were, to varying degrees, able to keep the wine from deteriorating and none of the methods resulted in the wine smelling and tasting as bad as that left out overnight in an open glass. On the other hand, none of the methods kept the wine as fresh as a newly opened bottle. The gas preservation method kept the wine smelling and tasting most like a newly opened bottle. Of the vacuum pump methods, the VacuVin Vacuum Wine Saver gave the best results. |
The grouping was tight (especially for the vacuum pumps) but in general, the aromas were dulled and muted with more sour, stale notes apparent in the wines preserved with the lower ranking methods. Similar trends were seen in the flavors of the wine. Below is a table representing our findings:
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Method resulting in wine most resembling freshly opened bottle: |
Method resulting in wine most resembling sample left out overnight: |
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| 1 | Private Preserve Wine Preserver | 1 | Argyle Vacuum Pump | |
| 2 | Vacuum Wine Saver | 2 | Jokari Wine Air Vac | |
| 3 | Jokari Wine Air Vac | 3 | Vacuum Wine Saver | |
| 4 | Argyle Vacuum Pump | 4 | Private Preserve Wine Preserver | |
We spoke with representatives of VacuVin and Private Preserve about their products. Scott Farmer, owner and inventor of the 20 year-old Private Preserve product says: "It's not rocket science, but it is usable science. I use it on all my wines, ports, sherries, even vinegar and olive oil and I know it's going to be there when I reach for it". Scott says he once gassed a half-full bottle of 1992 Silverado Vineyards Merlot and forgot it in his cellar. By his account, when he re-discovered the bottle in his cellar four and a half years later, it was well preserved. He brings this up in support of his method of wine preservation. He is a very firm in pointing out that his method is what is used in preserving wines in the winery and during bottling and that any vacuum method will extract volatile esters (responsible for a wine's aromas and flavors) from the wine remaining in a bottle. According to Carol Perusse, Vacu Vin Western Sales Manager, their product removes some 75% to 85% of the air in the bottle. The laws of physics change for nobody and a vacuum will draw any volatile substance out of a liquid. Patrick Schneider, President and CEO of the 20 year-old family-owned VacuVin says the 'clicking device' is a new design feature and may not have been incorporated into the unit we purchased. He maintains that, with the new feature, their product is very effective in preserving wines and he goes on to suggest that the updated pump would have performed better. We will just have to have a rematch in the future.
It may be argued that adding a cooler storage temperature may have helped preserve the aromas and flavors. However, we aim to reproduce the storage and consumption conditions of most wine lovers' homes. Furthermore, placing the four different test samples in the refrigerator could have had a detrimental effect on the wine since refrigerators are set to much lower temperatures than is advised for wine storage. Placing the resealed wines in a specialized wine cooler may have have kept the wines fresher, but it is highly likely that the order in which the different methods ranked in our experiment would have remained the same. At the same time, it is crucial to remember that in order for a finding of an experiment to gain validity, it must be reproduced by others. While we tried to be rigorous in our methodology, the same experiment repeated three or four more times (perhaps with other wines) may be informative.
There certainly are many other, more expensive wine preservation solutions, like a carafe-vacuum pump combination with a built-in pressure gauge (around $80, retail) or pure argon, cartridge-based systems ranging from hand-held (starting at around $40) to countertop units (starting at around $100 or around $200 with built-in cooling) or integrated into larger capacity cooling cabinets (starting at around $300). These are all designed to help solve the of dilemma of having to choose between drinking more than you want or wasting a wine you love. Even the more avid wine lovers may not be inclined to make such an investment. However, they may be more likely to try less costly preservation methods costing less than $30 or even $20.
Our small experiment indicates that while none of the methods we tested were perfect, for under $15, the Private Preserve Wine Preserver kept wine tasting most like a freshly opened bottle. In second place was the VacuVin Wine Saver. It was the most effective pump method tested. One final note: if you are after a one-time expenditure, the VacuVin may be your solution: a pump and two stopper package retailing for $15, will last considerably longer (with proper use, cleaning and care) than a single can of Argon -based gas preserver (which costs about $9). If you are a purist and want to do everything possible to preserve the wine in its best state (and don't mind spending $9 for each new can), then the gas method would will be your choice.
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Just in time for the holidays and those cold nights - alone or in larger groups - we present great dessert, sweet and fortified wines to warm both heart and spirit.
- Late Harvest Viogniers,
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December Wine Reviews:
"Do y'all have any sweet wine?"
Just in time for the holidays and those cold nights - alone or in larger groups - we present great dessert, sweet and fortified wines to warm both heart and spirit.
- Late Harvest Viogniers,
- Botrised Sauvignon Blanc,
- Ports,
- And others!
Get the buzz:
-
Wine reviews
-
Great stories
-
Interviews
-
Wine education tools
-
New content every month
It's FREE!
Click here
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