Wine Preservation

Ryan,

I had not seen this. Several existing systems use nitrogen, but I had not encountered one with argon. I suppose that with a few electrodes, one could create an illuminated sign from it :-) It does look simple enough, but at US$

100-200 (depending on chiller option), it's a bit pricy to experiment with and do some taste testing. I'll wait until some of the "deep-pocket" subscribers, with golden tongues test it for me.

Interesting, Hunt

in article snipped-for-privacy@news4.newsguy.com, Hunt at snipped-for-privacy@hunt.com wrote on

11/17/05 8:11 AM:

Just an FYI: I recently looked at a very sophisticated dispensing/preservation system that used either nitrogen or argon, depending on the user's choice. The rep said that argon works better but costs twice as much as nitrogen. They claim 24 days without degradation. The bottles are completely sealed in the unit and the exact amount dispensed is replaced directly with the gas.

Sounds good, except for the fact that this Italian-made system has an opening price (for a 4-bottle unit) of US$6000 or so.

The principle is a sound one, referred to as "sparging" in scientific circles. Argon is indeed better than nitrogen because it's heavier -- it more cleanly displaces oxygen and it also diffuses out of the bottle or through seals less readily. The problems are in the implemenation:

1. Unless the argon fill is done very slowly and smoothly, you generate turbulence within the bottle which can bring in more air and spoil the effect.
2. Simply supplying argon above the surface of the wine won't get rid of the oxygen dissolved in the wine; to do that, you need one of those fishtank aerating units that sits in the bottom of the bottle. (warning: doing that may well also push some of the more volatile smells out of the wine). The only other way to "degas" the wine is to freeze it, replace the atmosphere with argon and then thaw it under the argon atmosphere (freeze-pump-thaw is it's known ITB).

HTH Mark Lipton

Possibly a worthwhile investment for someone opening a wine bar, or a restaurant with a big by-the-glass list. For a simple wino, such as myself, I think I'll just Vacuu-vin and drink it ALL the next day.

Hunt

>

Sounds like a project for your graduate assistants, Mark. Instead, let's just down the bottle in one sitting! Thanks for the info, however.

Hunt

Thanks for the response Mark, I really do appreciate it, though I have a few other questions regarding your answers:

1) How slow are we talking about? I downloaded the manual and it says to depress the button (which dispenses the gas) for the following times:

For 3/4 bottle remaining: 3 seconds for good results, 9 seconds for best results. For 1/2 bottle remaining: 5 seconds for good, 15 seconds for best. For 1/4 bottle remaining: 7 seconds for good, 21 seconds for best.

Are those times slow enough?

2) I typically drink already opened wine within one week, so it is really worth spending the money on this system, or is my hand pump just fine?

2a) The wines I'm "saving" are rarely above $20/bottle. Is it really worth spending the money on saving wine that, if it goes bad, I'm not out a small fortune?!

Save some split bottles. Pour what's left of a full bottle into a split bottle - it will probably fill it (you can use beer bottles too; they come in different sizes). Pump those down(*) and spend the money you saved on more wine.

(*) I imagine you should pump it very little if you fill the split bottle - you don't want to suck the volitile compounds out and there's almost no air if you fill the bottle. However there may be air dissolved in the wine from pouring - I don't know how much; it might be an interesting experiment for those with keen palates.

Jose