One-minute review
There’s nothing better than indulging in a glass of sparkling wine, whether for celebrating a special occasion with a glass of champagne, or simply because you prefer fizz such as prosecco over white or red wine. Unlike still wine that often comes in screw-top bottles that allow for resealing, once the cork on a bottle of fizz has been popped, you have only a limited amount of time before the drink will go flat and doesn’t taste quite as delicious.
This means you’ll either have to drink the whole bottle in one sitting, or see some of it go to waste. There are plenty of old wives’ tales about how to keep bubbly, well, bubbly. These include using a teaspoon in the top of the bottle, or decanting the contents of a bottle into one with a screw top – but in my experience, none really work.
Coravin Sparkling is designed to offer a solution, by pairing a vacuum bottle stopper with a handheld carbonation unit. In much the same way as a SodaStream adds CO2 to tap water to make it fizzy, the Coravin Sparkling adds a shot of gas to a partially full bottle of sparkling wine through the top of the vacuum stopper. This retains the carbonation for up to 14 days, without the drink losing any flavor.
Coravin Sparkling is extremely simple to use, and the design of the vacuum stopper means it will fit any size and shape of sparkling wine bottle, including narrower vessels such as those used by Bollinger. However, at $399.99 / £399.99 / AU$699.95, it’s eye-wateringly expensive. In addition, there are on-going costs for the CO2 capsules, which are priced at $44.99 / £44.99 / AU$84.95 for six. Nevertheless, it will be worth the investment for those who only drink sparkling wine, or if you often indulge in vintage bubbly but don’t want to drink it all in one sitting.
Coravin Sparkling price and availability
- List price: $399.99 / £399.99 / AU$699.95
The Corvain Sparkling preservation system costs $399.99 / £399.99 / AU$699.95, and comprises a handheld carbonation unit and two vacuum bottle stoppers, enabling you to preserve up to two bottles of wine at any one time. It’s available direct from Coravin or through Amazon.
The package also includes four CO2 capsules, which can preserve up to seven standard-sized bottles of sparkling wine each. Additional capsules cost $44.99 / £44.99 / AU$84.95 for six, while extra stoppers are priced at $89.95 / £79.99 / AU$149.95.
Design
- Can preserve two bottles at a time
- Bottle stoppers are bulky
- Comes with four CO2 capsules
The Coravin Sparkling preservation system comprises the bottle stopper and the sparkling charger. The kit comes with two stoppers, which allows you to preserve two bottles of bubbly at any one time. However, measuring 3 x 2.75 x 2.75 inches / 7.6 x 7 x 7cm (h x w x d) and weighing 15.2 oz / 400g, the stopper here is much bulkier and heavier than the traditional vacuum stopper you might use on a bottle of sparkling wine.
The bottle stopper also has a locking handle, which should be raised when the stopper is placed over the neck of a bottle and then closed to ensure the bottle stopper remains in place, even when the bottle is placed on its side. The top of the bottle stopper also features a small indent for the nozzle of the sparkling charger.
The sparkling charger is a slim gadget, similar in size and weight to a pair of hair straighteners, measuring 10.2 x 2.95 x 2.95 inches / 25.9 x 7.5 x 7.5cm (h x w x d). It has a handle at the back with a rubberized section, which makes it easy to grip, and a base that fits snugly around the bottle stopper to allow the nozzle to connect with it.
On the front of the sparkling charger is a latch, which, when opened, allows you to insert or remove a CO2 capsule. As we’ve already mentioned, the Coravin Sparkling comes with four gas capsules. The package also includes two nylon bags into which you can place the bottles once they’ve been recharged, to reduce the likelihood of injuring yourself if you accidentally drop the bottle.
The bottle stoppers and the sparkling charger sport a glossy black finish, with matte silver accents.
Performance
- Simple to use
- Stopper prevents leakage
- Wine remained carbonated and fresh
On test, we found the Coravin Sparkling extremely simple to use. We loaded a CO2 capsule into the sparking charger by sliding down the latch to open the capsule container, into which we popped a capsule. It closed with a satisfying click, and the indicator on each side of the charger turned from red to green, indicating it was ready to use.
Once we’d opened a bottle of prosecco and poured out two glasses, we grabbed one of the bottle stoppers and lifted its locking handle. We then placed it on top of the neck of the open bottle and then pushed the handle down to secure it, although this required a little more effort than opening it.
Now we were able to charge the bottle. We placed the sparkling charger on top of the stopper, making sure the nozzle fitted snugly into the indent and pushed down on the charger. It dispensed CO2 into the bottle, with the indicator switching to red as we started to push down, emitting a gentle hiss at the same time.
The sparkling charger automatically stops releasing CO2 when the appropriate pressure has been reached, so we didn’t have to worry about wasting gas. The indicator also turns green when the charger has stopped releasing CO2, so you know when to remove the charger from the bottle stopper.
We repeated the process with a second bottle of prosecco, so we could evaluate the effervescence and flavor of the prosecco after both seven and 14 days. In both instances, we were super-impressed on removing the bottle stopper and tasting the contents – the wine was as effervescent as it was on first opening, and it tasted just as we’d expected. There was none of the astringent, slightly chemical taste that usually comes from wine that has been open for a couple of days.
We did find the stopper can be fiddly to remove. It needs to be tilted backwards and then the locking handle lifted, but it still required some force to remove it, unlike a standard vacuum stopper that glides off.
However, we were impressed that it was possible to place the bottle on its side with the bottle stopper attached, with no sign of any leakage – something that even standard vacuum bottle stoppers don’t prevent.
Should I buy the Coravin Sparkling ?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
First reviewed: March 2022
