Coravin System

The Coravin System was co-founded in 2011 by Greg Lambrecht and Josh Makower, with commercial launch following in 2013. Lambrecht, who holds a degree in Nuclear Engineering from MIT and a Master's in Mechanical Engineering, developed the concept in the late 1990s after his wife became pregnant with their first child and he found himself stuck either finishing an entire bottle or watching it oxidize. Drawing on his career developing medical needles, chemotherapy ports, and vascular access devices, he began prototyping a system that could pierce a cork, extract wine, and reseal without introducing any oxygen. His son famously nicknamed the early prototype the 'Wine Mosquito.' The name Coravin was eventually chosen: 'cor' from the Latin for heart, 'vin' from the French for wine, capturing the idea of getting at the heart of wine.

• Concept first developed in the late 1990s; first functional prototype completed around 2001
• Co-founded with Josh Makower, a venture capital partner and medical device entrepreneur, in 2011
• Launched first in the US in 2013; expanded to the UK the following year, then Asia
• Robert Parker's early endorsement helped propel initial sales and credibility in the fine wine market

The Coravin Timeless series, the original needle-based system, operates on a deceptively simple principle. A precision-engineered, non-coring hollow needle is inserted through the natural cork without removing it. The user then tilts the bottle and briefly presses a trigger to inject argon gas into the headspace; this positive pressure forces wine up through the hollow needle's interior channel and into the glass. Once the needle is withdrawn, the cork's natural cellular elasticity allows it to reseal around the microscopic puncture site. The argon atmosphere remains inside the bottle, completely excluding oxygen so the wine continues to age exactly as the winemaker intended. The Timeless Screw Cap accessory extends this capability to screw-cap bottles, keeping wine fresh for up to three months.

• The needle is described as non-coring and medical-grade, passing through cork without removing material
• Argon is heavier than oxygen and chemically inert, forming a protective layer above the wine surface without dissolving into or altering the wine
• A single Coravin Pure Argon Capsule provides up to 15 five-ounce pours with Timeless systems
• Natural cork's elasticity is essential; synthetic corks do not reseal and should not be used with the Timeless needle

The choice of argon over other gases is rooted in chemistry and physics. Argon is a noble gas, meaning it is fully inert and will not react with any component of wine, preserving color, aroma, and flavor intact. Crucially, argon is denser than oxygen at standard conditions, so when injected into a wine bottle it settles above the wine surface and reliably displaces oxygen rather than mixing with it. Nitrogen, the main alternative, is lighter than argon and slightly lighter than oxygen, meaning it provides a less stable protective layer in open systems. Carbon dioxide, while inert to wine chemistry, dissolves readily into still wine and would alter its taste and texture. For Coravin's Sparkling system, CO2 is used specifically because it is the gas naturally present in sparkling wine, maintaining the bottle's original pressure and effervescence after pouring.

• Argon is a noble gas: odorless, colorless, and chemically non-reactive with any wine component
• Argon's greater density versus oxygen means it forms a stable protective barrier above the wine's surface
• Nitrogen, while also inert, is lighter than argon and provides a less reliable barrier in partially filled bottles
• CO2 is used in the Sparkling system because it replicates the gas naturally created during secondary fermentation in sparkling wines

Coravin's product lineup has expanded significantly since the original Model One in 2013. The Timeless series (formerly called 'Model') is the flagship needle-based range for still wines under natural cork, designed for long-term cellar management where bottles may be revisited over months or years. The Coravin Pivot and Pivot+ were introduced as accessible alternatives that work with any still wine regardless of closure type, including screw caps, synthetic, or glass stoppers; the Pivot stopper replaces the original closure after the bottle is opened and preserves wine for up to four weeks. The Coravin Sparkling system, launched in 2021 after eight years of development, addresses sparkling wine for the first time: the cork is removed, wine is poured, and a specialized stopper is secured before the bottle is recharged with pure CO2 to maintain original pressure and bubbles for at least four weeks. Coravin is now sold in over 60 countries.

• Timeless systems (Three+, Six+, Eleven) use the needle-through-cork method for indefinite-term preservation of still wines
• Pivot+ works with any closure type and keeps wine fresh up to four weeks; each capsule yields up to 20 five-ounce pours
• Coravin Sparkling launched in 2021 and uses pure CO2 capsules, each capable of preserving up to seven standard 750ml bottles
• The Timeless Screw Cap accessory pairs with Timeless systems to preserve screw-cap wines for up to three months

The Coravin System has reshaped wine-by-the-glass programs at ambitious venues worldwide. London's 67 Pall Mall, the members' club widely described as the world's biggest Coravin user, offers around 1,000 wines by the glass, a feat made possible only through Coravin preservation. For private collectors, the ability to revisit a rare bottle of Burgundy or aged Barolo one glass at a time, without committing to opening the whole bottle, transforms how fine wine is explored and enjoyed. Greg Lambrecht himself conducted a celebrated 14-year blind tasting comparing Coravin-accessed bottles with untouched control bottles from the same case, finding them remarkably similar. Over a quarter of a billion glasses have reportedly been poured using Coravin systems since launch.

• 67 Pall Mall, London, the world's self-described biggest Coravin user, lists around 1,000 wines by the glass
• Collectors use the Timeless to sample aged bottles at intervals without committing to finishing them, enabling measured exploration of fine wine over years
• Lambrecht's 14-year blind tasting between Coravin-accessed and untouched bottles found the wines remarkably similar, supporting long-term preservation claims
• Coravin was named in Popular Science's 'Best of What's New' in the Home category in November 2013

The Timeless needle-based system works only with natural or agglomerated corks; synthetic and plastic corks do not reseal after needle insertion and should never be used with the Timeless. Extremely old, dried, or fragile corks may also fail to reseal reliably, and Coravin offers a thinner Vintage Needle specifically for delicate older bottles. Sparkling wines require the dedicated Coravin Sparkling system and cannot be accessed with the Timeless needle. While the Timeless provides near-indefinite preservation for cellar-quality wines, the Pivot system, because the bottle is opened, is recommended for wines intended to be finished within four weeks rather than aged. Wine writer Jamie Goode raised the point in 2021 that argon may subtly influence wines under extended Coravin use, suggesting that wine reviewers should disclose when Coravin has been used.

• Synthetic and plastic corks do not self-seal after needle insertion; the Timeless should never be used with them
• The Vintage Needle, a thinner variant, is recommended for delicate or aged corks to minimize risk of damage
• The Pivot system involves opening the bottle, so is suited for wines to be finished within four weeks, not long-term cellar use
• Broken bottles, while rare, prompted Coravin to include protective neoprene sleeves; Lambrecht estimated approximately 1 in 70,000 bottles may break, typically those already cracked