Wine Preservation: Greg Lambrecht, Coravin

XChateau is a podcast about all things wine, from vine to your glass. We tackle the business of wine and keep you up to date with new and exciting developments in the wine industry.

In this episode, Robert Vernick and Peter Yeung interview Greg Lambrecht, Founder & Chairman of Coravin, leading wine preservation and access technology.  We discuss the technology, how to get the most out of the Coravin, how people learn about coravin, and what is in store for the future. 

Other topics covered in this episode include:

• Greg fell in love with wine in Napa at age 16
• Works in medical devices
• Was frustrated with how to explore wine without committing to the whole bottle
• Coravin’s goal: to change the way wine is served and sold
• Founding: 
  • 1st prototype - 1999
  • A patent filed - 2004
  • Company founded - 2011
  • The product launched - 2013
• Technology - basic components existed before Coravin but needed a lot of refinement
  • Surgical grade needle - started with 3 types
  • Gases - started with 4 types (CO2, helium, argon, & nitrogen)
  • Gas pressure - biggest invention is the pressure regulator
• Capsule uses
  • Don’t hold the trigger for a long time; use multiple very short presses to get the most out of the capsule; Want to hear as little as possible when the Coravin is tilted back up
  • The average is 15 full glasses/capsule - can get up to 20-24 if used right
  • @ 15 glasses/capsule, each glass is ~$0.50 for argon gas
• Coravin models
  • Model 3 - $199 (entry pricing) - all the functionality, but only in grey and single design
  • Model 5-6 - has different colors and finishes
  • Model 11 - removed hand clamp, now uses a smart clamp (which is now across the range); automatic pourer - can set up the amount to pour on you phone
• Needles
  • Vintage needle (silver ring) - pours more slowly, can use up to 19th-century wines
  • Fast flow needle (red ring) - 30%+ faster, can use for corks up to 15 years old, mostly for restaurants
  • Standard needle (black ring) - can use up to wines from the 1960s
  • Professional needle (gold ring) - rare and expensive, like a blend of the vintage needle and standard needle
  • Need to replace needle every 500-1,000 uses, if it’s hard to insert the needle and/or there is silver at the end (the Teflon is wearing off), it’s time to replace the needle
  • Cut foil to improve needle life
  • Don’t use on synthetic corks, vinolok (glass corks)
  • Northern Italian wines and Diam corks - corks are harder and reduce needle life, but okay to use
• For best usage - use the 4 C’s
  • Clean - need to wash it after use, rinse with hot water through the spout at the end of the evening
  • Clear - give the trigger a quick press before you go onto the next bottle
  • Cellar - still need to protect the bottle and store wine as you would for aging
  • Cork - don’t use on bad corks - a simple trick, push down on a cork, if it slides, don’t use Coravin
  • The drop of wine at the top - when you remove the needle, it drags a bead of wine as the cork closes, does not mean the cork has not sealed
  • “Cold and old” - colder and older bottles have less elastic corks and take longer to heal. Leave them standing up for five minutes before putting in the cellar
• Coravin screwcap
  • Markets that wines will last for 3 months, but has seen 10-18 months
  • Trick - only need 1 screwcap module for long-term storage, put the original screwcap back on after pouring with Coravin, and will be fine
• Coravin marketing - how people hear about it
  • #1 - at wineries - for pouring library wines, etc.… 
  • #2 - restaurants and wine bars
  • #3 - at a friend’s home (word of mouth) - this is becoming the #1-way people hear about it in the US
• Distribution
  • In 60+ countries
  • Start almost exclusively in trade. Over time, consumer demand outstrips trade
  • US - 80-90% sold to consumers, China - predominantly trade
  • With the Covid pandemic - 75% of business is now online
• The Future - the mission is to make it faster, easier, and more fun than opening a bottle; sparkling wine is in the works
• An MW tested preservation technologies for his research paper, and the Coravin was the only product that worked

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