We are sad. In fact we are beyond sad. If you are a fan of Napa Private Tours you probably know by now that we are passionate about collecting the finest library wines Napa Valley has to offer and educating new customers and old friends to help them fully appreciate every vintage, past, present and future. In fact, many of our wine tours are specifically designed to help collectors secure reserve wine to add to their library and even purchase a share in advance from a promising vintage or project.
Up until the introduction of the Coravin wine collectors had to secure several bottles of a particular vintage and/or varietal and uncork with regularity to see if the wine had achieved maturity & fulness. That also meant a wasted bottle upon discovery that their library wine was not yet at its best. Coravin came to the rescue allowing wine lovers to draw small amounts of wine from a bottle without ever removing the cork and introducing inert gas to the bottle to ensure uninterrupted preservation and proper aging. With it it became plausible to widen your wine collection without increasing the bottle count and causing storage traffic jams in your cellar.
For our best tasting rooms it meant the possibility of allowing buyers with a more refined palate to sample superior wines to be able to make purchasing selections from limited library inventory. A true win-win to all and a fantastic gadget that would let you share with your friends your best wines without compromising your collection.
For wine collectors, paying a little under $400 for a Coravin was a small investment in light of the value it offered when it came to enjoying, evaluating and sharing their library wines.
But yesterday, Coravin came to an end or hopefully just a temporary halt in production. Due to bottles exploding when the Coravin was in use and causing personal injury Coravin voluntarily recalled all their products. How heartbreaking!! You can read more about the recall on their website
You don’t need to return your Coravin but please follow these precautions is you have one:
ALWAYS USE A NEOPRENE WINE BOTTLE SLEEVE WHEN USING THE CORAVIN SYSTEM.
ALWAYS VISUALLY INSPECT YOUR BOTTLE BEFORE USING THE CORAVIN SYSTEM. IF YOU FIND EVIDENCE OF DAMAGE OR FLAWS (E.G. CRACKED, CRUSHED, OR CHIPPED GLASS, OR WHITE
GLASS INCLUSIONS), DO NOT USE THE CORAVIN SYSTEM, EVEN WITH A BOTTLE SLEEVE.
ALWAYS KEEP THE BOTTLE AWAY FROM FACES WHILE POURING WITH THE CORAVIN SYSTEM
NEVER USE THE CORAVIN SYSTEM ON BOTTLES THAT ARE LARGER THAN 750 ML.
NEVER USE THE CORAVIN SYSTEM ON BOTTLES THAT ARE FLAT-SIDED, IRREGULARLY SHAPED, HAND-BLOWN OR ETCHED.
NEVER STRIKE OR DROP THE BOTTLE PRIOR TO OR WHEN USING A CORAVIN SYSTEM AS THESE ACTIONS MAY CAUSE THE BOTTLE TO BURST.
We are sending our good vibes to our friends and Coravin crossing our fingers for a prompt solution to this problem. The product formerly known as Wine Mosquito and later marketed as Coravin is a fantastic idea and a game changer for wine connoisseurs.
