The Vacu Wine Saver

For those of you out there who may open a bottle of wine for almost any occasion and not finish it in one sitting, the Vacu Wine Saver should be lying next to your wine collection ready to use. The seal it offers sucks out air and seals freshness in for up to two weeks. For those who usually do finish a bottle, this is still a practical idea, for one never knows, does one?

This appliance is actually a vacuum pump that extracts the air from an opened bottle of wine and reseals it (when no one is looking) with a re-usable rubber stopper. The vacuum slows down the wine’s oxidation process so that its flavor lasts for a longer period of time. The Vacu Wine Saver Pump emits a clicking sound which tells you when the optimum vacuum level has been reached. (It’s too bad such a mechanism can’t be invented to tell us when our own drinking level has been reached. Maybe that’s next on the wine technology agenda.)

It is a well-known fact that fine wine should breathe a little, but prolonged gasping will often result in a Merlot resembling vinegar and a chardonnay whose spunk has gotten up and gone to another party. Made from a fine quality of rubber, which does not affect the wine’s taste, the Vacu Saver Pump couldn’t be easier to use (even if one is not quite sober). Simply place a stopper in the bottle’s neck and then the pump over the stopper. Pump air out until some resistance is felt. This process works for all sparkling wines, and will save Chiantis and other Italian as well as French friends for up to two weeks. (Nasty relatives and neighbors given this same pumping treatment can only be expected to last about half that time.)

Reasonably priced, this item is a “must get” for anyone who appreciates the delicious but fleeting flavor of vintage wine.