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When your trying a nice bottle of Port, and circumstances dictate, that you cant drink most of the bottle as planned, has anyone tried the Vacu-Vin, or similar device? Link
For those who don't know, its a rubber seal/cork, with a reverse pump that sucks the air out, and gives wine more life (As far as time goes). It certainly works with wine, and doubles the drinkable stage. I've got a few rubber seals and a Pump, but for the life of me, I don't know why I haven't tried it with Port.
Has anyone else, and how did it effect things?
If no-one has, I'll try one myself in the next few weeks.

Alan

Alan

I have used Vacu Vin on bottles of port in the past and have stopped using them these days. I have found that when I drink a bottle of port over 4-5 days that it is different but still very enjoyable at the end of the 5 days when I don't use the Vacu Vin.

Instead I usually put the bottle or decanter in the fridge or the wine cabinet to store the port below room temperature from day to day.

So now, since I hardly drink table wine any more, I hardly use my Vacu Vin.

Alex

A lot of debate about these types of devices. Seems some think they dont work and some say they do???

In those rare instances, I prefer to use an inert gas type system. There are some that you spray into the bottle then recork. The heavier inert gas lays on top of the wine, keeping the air away from it.

Like Alex, I prefer to just recork, refridgerate, and comeback to it a day or two later. Ohh, I also transfer the remaining wine to the smallest possible bottle, filling high into the neck. This seems to work just as good as any product out there.

Thanks lads,

Not exactly a glowing testimonial. Sounds like I'll leave them be.

Alan

I never use one of these for port but normally use it for dry reds, that is, on the rare occassion when a dry red survives more than a single sitting

I don't see the point with using these with port as keeping it corked in the fridge will keep it fresh for days for VP and potentially weeks for other port styles.

The other point about these is that the "Vacu" bit of the name is misleading as it does not even come close to creating a vacuum in the bottle.

Derek

We're entering Pedantic land here. But one of a few dictionary definitions of Vacuum is;

an enclosed space from which matter, esp. air, has been partially removed so that the matter or gas remaining in the space exerts less pressure than the atmosphere (opposed to plenum).

Now when I use a Vacu Vin, I can hear and smell air from the bottle escaping through the pump. When you return to it, and remove the seal, you also hear the loud pop that confirms it was air tight.

I know this doesn't prove it works as its purpose suggests, but it surely creates a form of vacuum???

Alan

That's not what my science teacher told me

I think it is fair to say that the common understanding of the word vacuum is a space devoid of gas. Vacu Vin does not do this.

Derek

From the Latin Vacuus, meaning empty!

Who cares ...moving on.

Empty , as in void of any significanse !!

This is just another of those toys that does not really work.

I've never found these to work. Also, the air you're sucking out of the bottle is also some aroma, which I would rather be smelling. With port, I've kept good ports that were open up to three weeks in my cellar with no degradation at all.

I'm not personally convinced that they achieve anything more than a simple plug - stuffed in the top of a bottle between sessions..

Tom

Me neither, never found VP needed them, tried sometimes on whites but nothing to compare with and I've come to the conclusion the evolution in the opened bottle is part of what I enjoy.