apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My parents are huge wine fanatics and they have used this for years. It works great. I don't bother - I just finish the bottle ;)

I LOVE this device. It's great for having wine on hand at all times to cook with . . .

I use it all the time. I am not a wine expert so I dont really know how much they are helping. I guess they must be :-)

This item is always on my short list for hostess or housewarming gifts. A home bar essential, as far as I'm concerned.

Okay, this may be EXACTLY what I've been looking for. I've seen similar items but have been told that they don't actually work. This particular one seems to get glowing reviews :)

Now my question is, does anyone have any idea of for how long it does work? Say, for example, if I have one glass of wine per night and re-vacuum after each pour -- when would I start noticing a change in taste? Just curious. Thanks!!!

Also, just wondering -- has anybody compared using the Vacu Vin with pouring the remaining wine into a smaller bottle?

I'm with New Tenant here... can't remember the last time a bottle was opened and not finished.

I think it's sufficient to use the Vacu Vin only at the end of your meal or evening. Trying to use it after each pour seems excessive to me. I believe that some exposure to air helps a wine "open up" as they say. Maybe luigi will chime in here -- he's a vino connoisseur.

Oh, I'm sorry -- by saying "after each pour" I was implying once per night (since I only have one glass of wine at a time, it's the same for me).

It does work repeatedly --- although I've noticed a change in the wine when I keep it a week and keep opening and closing. That would be with whites at my house, cooking.

My chemical engineer/wine connoisseur cousin does the progressively smaller vessel thing with his reds, and is very happy (and diabolical looking with all those beakers.) Either way is great if your SO doesn't drink (or doesn't exist!)

Not for nothing, the NYS wine store in Soho uses these things, with a mechanized air sucker instead of a hand pump.

Luigi, you appear to have a stalker named Kathryn.

Similar, however a bit on the pricey side, but these are pretty nice also:

http://momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=32030

And why is the cork not good enough to reuse? What is the deal with the screwcaps on wines today...? It's some kinda trend that I don't get.

I want to notice that in general and is whole like all OK, though there are also some defects in registration and colour scale. If to compare this site to another: http://www.via-50mg.50megs.com/ or about these here for example: http://www.v-female.sd-search.com/ the design last to me is more pleasant.

Andrew resusing the cork doesn't deal with the air that is already in the bottle.
Screwcaps have been in use for awhile. Many winemakers are changing to screwcaps as they don't have to deal with cork going bad. It is not an automatic indication of inferior wine.

There is just the two of us, and we just have one glass a night with dinner. We've had one of these for a while and we love it. We usually finish the bottle within two days or so, and it seems to work really well. We love it.

Ha! I bought one of these this week and used it on Thanksgiving for the first time. I want to savor this bottle of Frogs Leap Zinfandel and I usually can't get the original cork back into any bottle.

I've used one for several years now and love it. In fact, I used it yesterday to save the wine leftover from my Thanksgiving dinner.

If you're going to finish the bottle the next day, you'll probably be able to get away with recorking it -- it sometimes helps to use the other end of the cork, btw -- but any longer something like this does help.

I must add that I'm sitting here enjoying the image of different sized bottles filled with red wine, each with its own vacuum seal and some sort of Vincent Price figure hovering over the process....

A wine snob told me that the difference between such devices and recapping the bottle with the original cork is negligible.

Paulmuscat: The wine snob was wrong. As Alexis pointed out, if you just stick the cork back in, the air that has been introduced into the wine bottle contributes to oxidation, ruining the wine after a day or so. With the Vacu Vin, the air is sucked OUT of the bottle, creating a vacuum (there's a "whoosh" when you pull out the rubber cork later to reopen the bottle). I'm one of those folks who likes half a glass of wine with dinner, and this device easily keeps an opened bottle good for a week ... I've been known to keep one around for two weeks, and it's still fine. (I'm talking white wine ... don't know how long red would keep, but I'm about to find out!) By the way, Cook's Illustrated rated all the wine-keeping devices not long ago, and the expensive ones couldn't hold a candle to Vacu Vin, which came out on top!

Paulmuscat, while it's true as Jane says a cork won't work, i once heard a noted wine expert advise just reusing a couple half bottles with screw tops for leftovers from bottles sealed with corks. As long as you own a funnel and drink up within a few days, you're fine and you don't have to spend $$ on anything fancier. Works for me.

This thing works véry well. We have one at home (only thing is that I don't drink... And my partner doesn't really drink wine anymore either, so I might give it away one day when I 'cure' the kitchen :).

It's true, it keeps an opened up bottle of wine in good condition for at least a week.

it is probably one of the best bangs for the buck out there. I think it costs less than 20 dollars, so we're not talking big ticket fancy pants wine techie item. It's easy, it's fast, no need to keep empty half bottles and funnels around, and you can reuse the corks indefinitely. All-around winner in my kitchen.

As to question about screwcaps, they are preferred by many winemakers because they guarantee a uniform wine free from random cork taint and oxidisation. Gotta love a good crisp NZ Marlborough.

love it. it keeps my wine way past it's prime.

We've been using this for years, and especially like the newly redesigned rubber cork (the one pictured here..). We also HIGHLY recommend getting a magnetized wine collar (about 35.00 US dollars). Absolutely astonishing how much better inexpensive wines (red and white) taste and a cinch to use.

In Dec 2006, Consumer Reports did a test of wine preservation systems (it's here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/beverages/wine/wine-12-06/wine-preservation/1206_wine_storage.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=4&searchTerm=wine). The conclusion? They all work about the same, and about as well as just putting the cork back. Still, I use the Vacu-Vin. Maybe because I'm a good American and believe in gadgets. Maybe because I bought an unopened one at a garage sale for $1.