Coravin event leaves tasters stumped

A tasting hosted by Coravin, the innovative wine dispenser, in London last week saw MWs and tasters unable to identify wine that had been accessed by the device nine months earlier.

(L-R) Greg Lambrecht, founder of Coravin, and Charles Curtis MW (Photo: Coravin)

Of the 25 people in attendance, only three were able to identify the wine that Coravin had tapped into months ago. The company claims these three tasters likely had just luck on their side.

Greg Lambrecht, Coravin’s founder, commented on the results of the tasting, saying, “With these experts, not a single glass was found to be oxidised, all wines could be proudly served to a guest or friend, and any variation between glasses were within normal bottle to bottle variability of un-Coravined bottles.

“These results match the success we have had across the planet, with now more than 600 sets of blind tasted wines, including those involving wine producers tasting their own wines.”

Charles Curtis MW helped to organise the event at Avenue in St James, selecting a range of wines with styles designed to test Coravin’s abilities. He chose an aromatic white that would easily show any shift in aromatic character, a white Burgundy that could easily be subject to oxidation and a a sweeter style white wine.

Of the reds, he chose a light-bodied Beaujolais, a Burgundy and a full-bodied Bordeaux to put the device through its paces. An exact list of the wines presented at the tasting has been requested.

Coravin also held an event a few days later with a host of sommeliers, tasting wines that were opened a year ago. They are planning for the next event to be a 2-year blind tasting.