Leading wine technology company Coravin has released a new tabletop device, the Coravin Vinitas, that serves to fractionalise full-sized bottles of wine into smaller sample bottles that stays well preserved for up to 12 months.
Making its debut to the trade at the recent Vinexpo Asia 2023 held in Singapore, founder and inventor of Coravin, Greg Lambrecht himself, was present at the show floor demonstrating to the industry how the device works.
It’s designed as a convenient way for wineries, distributors, retailers, and wine schools looking for a complete self-serve solution when creating wine samples for the trade, media, consumers or students.
Essentially working as the world’s smallest bottling line that sits on a tabletop, the Coravin Vinitas is able to fractionalise a standard 750ml bottle of wine into seven 100ml sample bottles with presumably zero wastage.
According to Lambrecht, this eliminates the need for sending full-sized bottles for sampling, or requiring the wine merchant to purchase additional small format bottles – which aren’t easily sold if unconsumed – that are only meant for sampling or to be given out.
The sample bottles themselves feature Coravin Enoloq technology that ensures there is no exposure to air when transferring wine from bottle to bottle, thus resulting in better preservation of the wines inside.
As an automated smart system, Coravin also sees the Vinitas as an easy-to-use device meant for a wide range of use cases by the trade – from virtual tastings to wine club subscriptions, sample retail pours to educational tasters without the need for opening a full bottle of wine.
Lambrecht reveals that the idea for Coravin Vinitas came about during the early days of the pandemic, when the team saw an opportunity for wine businesses to send well preserved samples to their trade customers and consumers whom they couldn’t meet face-to-face.
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The concept was also bolstered by the industry-wide challenge of engaging with younger consumers who typically prefer to taste-test wines before making a purchase.
“Until now, there has not been a scalable automated product that creates single-serve formats and maintains the quality of the wine inside for months, as opposed to weeks,” says Lambrecht.
“With Coravin Vinitas, companies, hospitality services, and trade can sample and fractionalise any bottle, any time, on-site, ensuring the highest quality experience for businesses and consumers, no more needlessly shipping full-size bottles where only a taster is needed.”
In Singapore, the Coravin Vinitas is available for the trade on a leasing basis starting from US$750, with sample bottles available from US$1 each.
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About the Author
Dannon Har is the Managing Editor of Spill. Discovering his innate gift for drinking only at a ripe age, he spares no time trying to find more delicious drops to imbibe during his time on Earth. When he’s not minding every detail at Spill, he spends his time concocting luscious libations and sharing them with folks that visit his home bar.