I am a wine author and sommelier. This is the wine I recommend the most

Introduction of oxygen into wine it’s good in the short term – decanting the bottle or swirling the glass unlocks those aromatic compounds that have been locked away for months or years, patiently waiting for the cork to be pulled. However, long-term oxygenation is what causes your wine to become less attractive over time when you remove the cork.

No matter what quality of wine you started with, an open bottle is only good for a few days before it starts to taste stale or tired. Neither Burgundy nor Barefoot can withstand the rotting power of oxygen. One of them is much sadder to pour out than the other, it’s true, but it’s wasteful either way.

That’s where a Koravin comes in handy. The Coravin is a device that inserts a needle into the cork of a wine bottle, allowing a glass or other small amount to be removed without exposing the wine to excess oxygen. Removing the glass without removing the cork means you have much more time—weeks or even months—to finish the bottle, with less risk of spilling it because life has prevented you from effectively finishing the bottle.

Coravin is not a cheap device. The entry-level model starts at $149. But I would argue that it is extremely useful for all wine lovers. Now there are several Coravin systems for sale — up to 50% off select packages for Black Friday. And it’s a great gift whether the wine lover in your life is a budding sommelier or just starting out on the fermented grape juice journey.

How does koravin work?

Koravin smoothly extends a hollow needle through the cork, extracting the liquid from the inside with one push of a lever. A capsule of inert argon gas is built into the Coravin mechanism, which creates a new pressure in the bottle and removes even a microdose of oxygen from the vacated space in the bottle. The hole left in the cork after the Coravin has worked its magic is microscopic, and there is no risk of spillage from continuing to store the wine on the side. Although a small amount of oxygen can still enter the bottle through the tiny opening, the rate at which the wine goes stale is much, much slower.

Coravin also offers solutions for screw top bottles and sparkling wines.

Read more: The Coravin Guide: The One Gadget Wine Lovers Love Most

I admit, even as a sommelier, I received Coravin and did not immediately start using it. Not that I’ve ever had an occasion where it would make sense to use it: there are many wine situations where Coravin is extremely handy, detailed below. More so because I was acting under the mistaken assumption that setting it up would be a complicated process. (I had the same assumption about the crème brûlée torch; apparently it’s the gas pods that make me think Ikea-level assembly is required.) Newsflash: It was up and running in about 30 seconds.

Coravin is not just for wine collectors

Most people think that’s where Coravin’s usefulness ends; that they need a serious wine collection to justify having one, and they are wrong. Indeed, those with a large collection of world-class wines can benefit from Coravin, just as wine bars or restaurants can justify it with their rich selection from which to offer glasses from exemplary producers, regions. or vintage. With Coravin, you can try a bottle to see how it ages, or even just to see if it goes well with a certain dish.

But even if your “wine collection” consists of a dozen colorful bottles, mostly given away or left over from parties, or if you rarely have more than a bottle or two on hand at a time, you can find one or more of the excuses below that describe your relationship with wine and it makes sense to have a Coravin. Plus, it’s fun, and people tend to be a little underwhelmed when they see it in action.

For individual or separated families

A standard bottle of wine holds about four to five glasses, depending on how generous the pour is. (In terms of tracking your drinking alcoholyou can’t pour half a bottle into a highball glass and call it a single serve, btw.) As a family of one, I find myself in this situation all the time: wanting to open a bottle at home to have a glass or two, and then realizing that that my schedule wouldn’t allow me to return to it until too many days had passed.

Or maybe cook something that calls for a red one night and want a chilled white the next day. Not to mention the occasional recipe that calls for a splash of wine, leaving the rest of the bottle untouched if you’re not drinking that night. Sometimes I would forget about a bottle in the fridge that might have been sitting for a day or two and then open a new bottle.

How often do you throw out leftover wine? Once a month? Even if your bottle preferences reach $20, if you regularly pour half a bottle, the entry-level Coravin only pays for itself after 15 bottles. If your wine preferences are even slightly more expensive, it will pay for itself in much less than a year.

In a family of even two people, it’s relatively easy to finish a bottle of wine, but if one of you is a non-drinker or your wine tastes are generally different from each other, this could also apply to you.

For less alcohol consumption

How many times have you drunk more than you wanted to at home because the bottle was already opened and the wine doesn’t stay good that long so…

AND Reddit thread outlines the amazing benefits of owning a Coravin that actually makes you drink less. with careful consumption of alcohol on the rise, several commenters noted that they had considered using Coravin to randomly sample various prestige bottles, but that it was particularly useful in extending the life of a single bottle, the contents of which could be drunk for a week or two, helping to slow down their personal consumption.

If you’re not a wine drinker every night, or if you want to limit your consumption to less than a glass to drink with dinner or relax before bed, Coravin is the perfect way to let that bottle of wine go a long way. more servings than the standard five or six. As a wine instructor, I drink wine outside my home several times a week for work reasons. Sometimes I don’t feel like drinking at home, but nothing goes with food like wine, and a half glass does the job for most types of dinners that are eaten on the sofa rather than at the table.

To study wine

My first visit to Coravin was a unique situation because of my experience as a wine writer. I had about six bottles of Chardonnay to taste, and I dedicated myself to just that night to do it. Even with a Chardonnay-loving friend, we weren’t going to make a noticeable dent in half a case of wine in one sitting.

So the Coravin was unboxed and I was immediately hooked. It was easy, it was dazzling, and it prevented an unintentional midweek binge.

You don’t have to do a wine writing assignment to understand that this situation might apply to you. If you want to do a comparative tasting like the one above, just for fun if you are member of the wine club and invite a friend over to taste a bunch of new bottles, if you’re learning wine and learning to taste blind, or if you really want to pair different wines with different elements of a meal you’ve cooked at home, Coravin is better at letting you open multiple bottles at once without risking a waste juice in process.