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Coravin presented its new "Vinitas" system at the London Wine Fair (LWF). With this system, a normal bottle can be divided into seven mini bottles. These were also specially developed and, according to the manufacturer, guarantee a shelf life of the wine of up to 12 months. The company became known about ten years ago with its wine preservation system, which keeps wines in opened bottles protected from oxidation with the help of argon gas.
The idea for Vinitas came to the Coravin team during the pandemic, when online wine tastings and the sample bottles needed for them were suddenly in high demand. The new system was developed in 18 months and is intended to allow bottlers - wineries, wine merchants and wine schools - to offer even expensive wines under full quality control. The company wants to appeal to younger consumers who cannot afford whole bottles of expensive wines but still want to try them.
According to company founder Greg Lambrecht, the new system is meant to "revolutionise the way wine is consumed". Until now, he says, there has been no scalable, automated system that produces sample bottles of small quantities and keeps the quality of the wine inside intact for months instead of weeks. "With Vinitas, businesses, restaurants and retailers can split each bottle on the spot at any time to give their customers a high-quality experience. No more needlessly shipping full-size bottles when only one taster is needed."
The device itself can be rented at a cost of around 860 euros per month, with the cost of a tasting bottle at around 1.15 euros. The Napa Valley Wine Academy, the wineries Langton's, Ceretto, Château Montelena, Château Haut Bailly and Stéphane Derenoncourt of Domaine de l'A were involved in the development of the device.
(al / source: Harpers.co.uk)