From a Sommelier's Notebook
The Timeless Six+ pours through the cork, about 20 glasses per capsule. The bottle stays sealed.
The most expensive sound in wine is the pop of a cork. Not because of what it costs to open a bottle, but because of what it starts.
The moment the cork leaves the neck, oxygen gets to work. You have a day, maybe two, before that wine is something you cook with.
Every wine lover knows the math that follows. It's Tuesday, you want one glass of the good Barolo, and one glass means committing to the whole bottle. So you drink the open one instead. The good bottle waits for an occasion that keeps not coming.
The Quiet $200-a-Year Mistake
Think about what an opened-and-abandoned bottle actually costs. A few half-finished bottles a month poured down the drain adds up to a couple hundred dollars a year for a typical wine drinker.
And that's the cheap part. The real tax is the wine you never open at all: the better bottles that sit for years because the moment was never big enough to justify them.
The Restaurant Secret
In restaurants, we stopped playing that game years ago. Walk into a serious wine bar and order a 2005 Bordeaux by the glass, and watch what the sommelier does.
No corkscrew. A slim system goes over the neck, a needle slips through the cork, and your glass fills. The bottle goes back on the shelf, still unopened as far as the wine inside is concerned. That's how a restaurant pours you one glass of something rare without gambling the other five.
The system is a Coravin. And it was never restaurant-only equipment. It just looks like it.
See the system sommeliers use →
And I'm not the only one in the trade who took it home.
“Coravin has been a revolution in a positive way of course, nobody would ever think to open some prestigious wines as the first growths or Supertuscans and serve them by the glass. With Coravin anything is possible and accessible.”
Stefano Barbarino · Head Sommelier & Wine Buyer, Corinthia London
“The Coravin system really helped us create a reserve by the glass list to offer premium New Zealand wines… some guests only want a glass of wine not a full bottle over dinner.”
Debbie Jones · Sommelier, The Musket Room, New York
“I have been using the Coravin system since 2014 and it is the perfect tool for all food and wine pairings that I do in both the professional and home settings.”
Joyce Lin · Certified Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers
“One glass no longer costs you the bottle. That single fact changes how you drink everything you own.”
How It Works: Three Steps, No Corkscrew
Coravin has poured from the same bottles over months and even years. The wine keeps evolving on its own terms, not the way oxygen decides.
Why the Usual Fixes Fall Short
| Vacuum stoppers | Pull some air out, leave the rest. The clock slows; it doesn't stop. |
| Inert-gas sprays | Help for a few days, if you use enough. |
| Coravin | The cork never moves and oxygen never enters. Taste a wine tonight, come back to the same wine next year. |
Pure Argon capsules: the same gas wineries use to protect wine in the cellar.
What Changes at Home
With a needle through the cork, the hierarchy in your wine rack dissolves. Weeknight wine and anniversary wine become the same thing: whatever you feel like pouring one glass of tonight.
The One I Tell Friends to Buy
Whenever this comes up at a tasting, the next question is always which model to get. My answer is the one on my own counter: the Timeless Six+.
Not because it's the flashiest, but because it's the complete setup. The aerator gives a young wine the equivalent of a long decant in the time it takes to pour. The screw caps mean it works on your everyday bottles, not just the cellar ones. The carry case means it comes to dinner parties. You buy it once and you're done.
The honest question people ask next is about the capsules. Each one pours about 20 glasses, and yes, you'll buy more eventually, the way you buy coffee for a good machine.
“Coravin allows people to taste the greatest wines of the world by the glass.”
George Miliotes · Master Sommelier, Wine Bar George
The Timeless Six+
Available in Silver, Piano Black, and Burgundy. Ships free in the continental U.S.
Pour any wine, any amount, any time with the Timeless Six+
Shop NowThe Three-Week Test
Open a bottle tonight. Pour one glass. Come back to it in three weeks. If it doesn't taste like it's just been opened, send everything back within 30 days for a full refund.
Three Questions Everyone Asks
Does it work on screw caps?
Yes. The Timeless Six+ includes six Coravin screw caps that replace the original cap, so screw-cap bottles pour and seal the same way.
How long does the wine really last?
Weeks, months, even years. The wine never touches oxygen, so it keeps aging on its own terms. Coravin's own team routinely revisits bottles first accessed years earlier.
What happens when the capsules run out?
Each capsule pours up to 20 glasses. Refills are available on coravin.com whenever you need them.
Try the Timeless Six+ risk-free for 30 days
Shop NowThe Three-Week Test applies. Worst case, you drank well for a month.