Repour Wine Preserver Stoppers

[The Knize]

Anyone else using these: Repour Wine Saver • The Smart Wine Preserver - https://www.repour.com/ ?

I think we are getting good results with them. Some comments seem to think they affect the flavor of the wine, but we have not noticed that. We always put the wine in the fridge, too. I have not tried just leaving the wine at room temperature. Aside from regular table wines, I use them with red vermouth and things like Barolo Chinato, that we want to keep around, but that I am afraid deteriorate after opening.

Anyone else have any good or bad experiences? I admit I have not tried doing anything in the way of a blind taste test. I do not know if performance various with how much is left in the bottle.

 

[APBinNCA]

I have been using Vacu Vin for decades, but this looks interesting. Will order some, thanks.
They mention on the about page that you need to let your wine breathe before drinking, that these are almost too effective. I imagine this is where the idea that it affects the taste comes from, somebody didn't read the about.
I put the 10 pack in my cart to check the shipping cost and it's free plus no tax either! But at 1.80/each, I wouldn't use these with anything less than a 35 bottle. So these would be kept around for those special bottles.

 

[The Knize]

But at 1.80/each, I wouldn't use these with anything less than a 35 bottle. So these would be kept around for those special bottles.

Wow, popular thread, eh?

I meant to respond to this earlier. $1.80 a piece seems cheap to me. I have been throwing one of these into every bottle I pull a cork from these days. Although I admit we have not been drinking much less than $20 a bottle. If we end up drinking the whole bottle that night, I pull out the Repour cap to use again, assuming that it has not been used up!

 

[APBinNCA]

I guess everybody just sticks a used cork in it and shoves it in the fridge.

I guess it's relatively cheap, but I go through a bottle in 4 days max. I am pretty sure I could/should reuse it for a second bottle then bin it. I really like the concept, but I have a problem with disposable plastic items. I don't want to get on a soap box or anything, it's just automatic for me. I am so used to using the Vacu Vin and it works well enough and I am not throwing anything out...

That's why I mentioned special bottles, I could justify this if it was occasional. Especially for leftover wine at a party, I have taken home an entire case of bottles that are at least half full. I end up drinking more than I even want to. For me, if I used these regularly, I would go through at least 60 per year. I am not sure if that's much of an environmental impact, but I am not sure it isn't. Cost wise, I guess about $100 per year isn't that much.

 

[DrStrange]

I guess everybody just sticks a used cork in it and shoves it in the fridge.

I guess it's relatively cheap, but I go through a bottle in 4 days max. I am pretty sure I could/should reuse it for a second bottle then bin it. I really like the concept, but I have a problem with disposable plastic items. I don't want to get on a soap box or anything, it's just automatic for me. I am so used to using the Vacu Vin and it works well enough and I am not throwing anything out...

That's why I mentioned special bottles, I could justify this if it was occasional. Especially for leftover wine at a party, I have taken home an entire case of bottles that are at least half full. I end up drinking more than I even want to. For me, if I used these regularly, I would go through at least 60 per year. I am not sure if that's much of an environmental impact, but I am not sure it isn't. Cost wise, I guess about $100 per year isn't that much.

I turn the cork upside down and put it back in the bottle.
The top of the cork is compressed by the bottle to become narrower than the bottom.

I also happen to prefer solid single piece genuine corks.
I save them, and use them if the partial bottle of wine
has a synthetic cork or is made of cork fragments.

 

[Toothpick]

I ordered one of these a while back. Comes with 2 corks. And you just suck the oxygen out until it “clicks”. It’s about $15 bucks on Amazon. I’m no where near enough of a wine enthusiast to know if it actually works. Well, let me take that back - I know it works as it should, but I can’t tell if the wine tastes different with or without it. If it’s actually “saving” the wine from spoilage. But hey…peace of mind.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GA3KCE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Hercule]

I ordered one of these a while back. Comes with 2 corks. And you just suck the oxygen out until it “clicks”. It’s about $15 bucks on Amazon. I’m no where near enough of a wine enthusiast to know if it actually works. Well, let me take that back - I know it works as it should, but I can’t tell if the wine tastes different with or without it. If it’s actually “saving” the wine from spoilage. But hey…peace of mind.

View attachment 1407123

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GA3KCE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

We were guests of wine drinker who had something like this, but it was some sort of battery operated gizmo that sucked the air out of a bottle through a special replacement stopper like that pictured. Well, before opening a bottle I brought, we finished one they had on hand on which they had used that reseal contraption. I was the most horrid tasting wine I've ever experienced. It distinctly tasted like it was infused with a rubber tire. I still shudder at the memory of it!

On the very rare occasion that I have "leftover" wine, I just replace the cork and either leave it on the counter or put it in the fridge. Before long I'll either cook with it or drink it.

 

[bobmsp]

I was looking at the Coravin system as a gift for someone recently as it seems to be the gold standard on wine preservation. It's awfully pricy and I don't know if it's worth it for me to get for myself. But it seems like it would be a great choice who drinks expensive wine. And who has a lot of patience - looks like it takes 25 seconds to pour a glass....

Has anyone used one of these?

 

[The Knize]

I guess everybody just sticks a used cork in it and shoves it in the fridge.

I guess it's relatively cheap, but I go through a bottle in 4 days max. I am pretty sure I could/should reuse it for a second bottle then bin it. I really like the concept, but I have a problem with disposable plastic items. I don't want to get on a soap box or anything, it's just automatic for me. I am so used to using the Vacu Vin and it works well enough and I am not throwing anything out...

That's why I mentioned special bottles, I could justify this if it was occasional. Especially for leftover wine at a party, I have taken home an entire case of bottles that are at least half full. I end up drinking more than I even want to. For me, if I used these regularly, I would go through at least 60 per year. I am not sure if that's much of an environmental impact, but I am not sure it isn't. Cost wise, I guess about $100 per year isn't that much.

Thanks for laying all of that out. I own a Vacu Vin, but I was under the impression that it did not do that much. I admit I have not really put it to the test. I am skeptical of how much O2 it can really pull out of the bottle. Maybe I should not be.

It does seem that I have thrown things out that were under a Vacu Vin, but I do not know for how many days.

I have heard of Coravin and it does seem to the gold standard. I have not used one. I will say that one benefit of these Repour stoppers is ease of use. My impression is that the Coravin takes some effort.

As I think I have said earlier, I have just been throwing a Repour stopper into a bottle as soon as I open the bottle. Then I do not really worry about finishing the bottle. If I do not end up putting the bottle away for any amount of time, I will reuse the stopper. I suspect that a table wine in a half-filled bottle without one of these stoppers starts to at least change pretty quickly. I do not know how long either on the counter or in the fridge it takes for it to be really adversely affected. I guess I as willing to pay $1.80 to make sure it is not at all adversely affected!

I guess I so not make much of a compelling case for keeping open bottles of wines around, because I do not do that much. The only table wine I can think of I am currently doing that with is a decent chenin blanc, that was quite a bit sweeter than I expected. I really like it and it is not quite dessert sweetness level. But I am only in the mood for a semi sweet wine all that often. I think it is holding up fine so far after a couple of weeks.

I think where wine preservation is really useful in my life is both red and white vermouth, and things like Barola Chinato. Quality versions of these things are not cheap and I do not go through a bottle all that quickly. I think I have noticed big quality drop offs from half filled bottles even if stored in the fridge. If I pay $40 for a bottle of Carpano Antica, which is what it seems to cost these days, I want it to be as pristine as possible for that occasional Manhattan or Negroni.

By the way, an inexpensive way to preserve open wine is to put it into a smaller bottle that fills up very close to bottom of the cork. But that seems like a whole lot of hassle, including have the right sized bottles around and labeling. Also, I assume that a wine that has been opened and exposed to the air gets O2 into the wine itself. I suppose that is true for lots of these systems.

 

[Hercule]

Actually, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of having wine left over.

 

[BradWorld]

Actually, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of having wine left over.

This! But seriously, we do have the rare occasion where a bottle goes back into the fridge or on the shelf for a day or two, and that’s about it. We use those rubber stoppers all the time. But I always wanted a vacu vin, but never got around to ordering it. This thread made me do it. Order in. The other systems have consumables, which I dont care for. If I were nursing $100+ bottles for weeks at a time, then maybe. But we just don’t. We open wine, and we drink it.

 

[Yuritau]

I was using Private Preserve inert gas in some whisky bottles for a while, as those tend to last a while after I open them.

For wine though, I usually only open a bottle of wine if there's company to share it with, and in those cases, there's no concern about storage, hehe.

 

[bobmsp]

I think where wine preservation is really useful in my life is both red and white vermouth, and things like Barola Chinato. Quality versions of these things are not cheap and I do not go through a bottle all that quickly. I think I have noticed big quality drop offs from half filled bottles even if stored in the fridge. If I pay $40 for a bottle of Carpano Antica, which is what it seems to cost these days, I want it to be as pristine as possible for that occasional Manhattan or Negroni.

How long does a bottle of vermouth last with the Repour? Vermouth lasts a few months in my fridge.

I have to admit that I had the same reaction to the Repour as @APBinNCA - oh some more plastic to throw out. But realistically, I don't go through wine that much so maybe it's something to look into.

 

[The Knize]

<How long does a bottle of vermouth last with the Repour? Vermouth lasts a few months in my fridge.>

I do not know yet. Could be infinite. I do not think that vermouth stays in peak condition in my fridge for months. I think actually that white vermouth does better than, say, Carpano Antico. I suppose I not done anything very scientific on this.

I am guessing adding a couple of ounces of vodka to a bottle of vermouth would help preserve it without changing the flavor much.

I am trying to figure out whether we drink more or less wine than others. Seems like we open a lot of bottles of wine. There are the scenarios where we have opened and finished one bottle that evening, and another half glass a piece is of interest, but committing to finishing a whole bottle that evening seems imprudent. I suppose on a Friday opening another bottle does not seem drastic, as it is probably going to be used up over the weekend. But on a Sunday evening, not so much. I think I am saying in my life, there are a fair number of times when 25.5 ounces does not happen the be the exact amount of wine that is optimal.

As I think about it, I do not drink every night, no matter what my posts on this board would seem to indicate. And often enough, I have a cocktail, while my wife has a glass of wine. An entire bottle of wine seems like a fair amount for her by herself, even over a couple of nights. On the other hand, she is not as picky about what wine she is drinking as I am.

I do not think of myself as anit-environment, but this seems like a small amount of plastic.

I did wonder whether these things would be useful for opened bottles of whisky and other brown spirits. I do not sense a lot a deterioration for bottles that have a lot left in them even over long periods of time. But once the bottle gets below the halfway point, I think the whisky can go down hill over a period as short as a number of months.

 

[Hercule]

I think there is a system, advertised in recent memory, that extracted wine through the cork via a needle. The cork closes back up when needle is removed. (Working from my phone right now so can't easily Search for it.) For small amounts, sure.

Seriously now, who among us wouldn't drink a few-day-old partial, recorked bottle of wine? Who among us could really tell anyway? Oh the first-world problems we convince ourselves of.

 

[Hms123]

I ordered one of these a while back. Comes with 2 corks. And you just suck the oxygen out until it “clicks”. It’s about $15 bucks on Amazon. I’m no where near enough of a wine enthusiast to know if it actually works. Well, let me take that back - I know it works as it should, but I can’t tell if the wine tastes different with or without it. If it’s actually “saving” the wine from spoilage. But hey…peace of mind.

View attachment 1407123

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GA3KCE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I ordered one of these a while back. Comes with 2 corks. And you just suck the oxygen out until it “clicks”. It’s about $15 bucks on Amazon. I’m no where near enough of a wine enthusiast to know if it actually works. Well, let me take that back - I know it works as it should, but I can’t tell if the wine tastes different with or without it. If it’s actually “saving” the wine from spoilage. But hey…peace of mind.

View attachment 1407123

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GA3KCE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I have this and used to use it all the time. I don’t anymore for no particular reason. We also rarely have unfinished wine bottles around. If we do, then I stick the cork in upside down and don’t worry about it. Seems to work as well as anything else.

 

[The Knize]

I think there is a system, advertised in recent memory, that extracted wine through the cork via a needle. The cork closes back up when needle is removed. (Working from my phone right now so can't easily Search for it.) For small amounts, sure.

Seems odd and ineffective. Some air has to get in from somewhere for wine to come out of the needle. Why would that wine be any less oxygen laden than any other air.

Seriously now, who among us wouldn't drink a few-day-old partial, recorked bottle of wine? Who among us could really tell anyway?

I do not know, Hercule. Seems to me I have had wine go off quite a bit within in a few days. Maybe even one day, I am not sure. I do not think that happens with every wine, but I am confident that you and I both could tell. I have been served house wines at restaurants, and I assume they were pouring from large bottles that had not been opened all that long ago because I was at a place where I would expect the turnover to be quite a bit, where the wine was decidedly off and not just from being subpar to begin with. Now, I suppose it is possible that once opened, the bottle was placed to near a stove or something.

Again, if I want a glass of wine I do not want to be discouraged from opening a bottle because it will result in me having four more glasses I will want to drink up within a day or two. But YMMV!

 

[bobmsp]

I think there is a system, advertised in recent memory, that extracted wine through the cork via a needle. The cork closes back up when needle is removed. (Working from my phone right now so can't easily Search for it.) For small amounts, sure.

Seems odd and ineffective. Some air has to get in from somewhere for wine to come out of the needle. Why would that wine be any less oxygen laden than any other air.

This is how the Coravin system works. It injects argon into the bottle to displace the air.

 

[bobmsp]

I do not think of myself as anit-environment, but this seems like a small amount of plastic.

I hope you didn't think I was criticizing you as anti-environment by using Repour. I was merely remarking on my initial reaction. Waste reduction is a complicated problem to solve and it's too simple to just say "stop using plastic."

But we're getting off the subject.... I'm most interested in this issue because I'm increasingly finding myself only wanting a small amount to drink but don't want to deprive myself of nicer wines (or vermouth) because I'll only have a glass now and then.

 

[The Knize]

This is how the Coravin system works. It injects argon into the bottle to displace the air.

Yep. I thought it basically injected argon which pushed the wine out of the bottle through a tube. Very good system, methinks.