After 6 weeks of testing Repour on a number of different wines, and using the skills I have learned over my career as a Master Sommelier, I can say Repour is one of the most astonishing products I have seen in over 10 years. I use the word astonishing exactly to its definition; “extremely surprising or impressive; amazing.
I tested Repour on 10 Year old White wines, fresh Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Torrontes, Red Burgundy, Old Bordeaux…you name it. And, every one of them stood up to the test. The most amazing part is, the wines are so fresh after the second and third pour, they actually need to breathe again. It’s like the Benjamin Button of Wines; They get younger and fresher each pour.”
I worked at a restaurant for most of my career, which was open 5 days per week, and we had 22 wines by the glass. Each Saturday those bottles would be emptied as the wine just wouldn’t hold up over the weekend. We poured hundreds of dollars down the drain every week. With Coravin, the capsules were too costly and the service was clunky. Repour solves each of these problems easily. Repour will literally revolutionize a Wine By The Glass program and save wineries hundreds of dollars per year in lost product. Imagine every restaurant or winery with a “slow day” of the week or even a mid-week closure, being able to preserve all of their open bottles, and come back later to wine that is even fresher than the day it was opened.
From my professional standpoint as Estates Ambassador for Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills Estates, I open expensive wines every week. I always have 5 bottles open and I often have plenty of wine leftover. I end up opening a set of bottles each successive day, because I want our wines to show as perfectly as intended. Repour gives me the chance to preserve the wine overnight and into the following days, saving hundreds of dollars on sample costs over a week. And for pennies. I could see this revolutionizing the way fine wine is presented in the market.
I am so excited, that I have started to tell everyone I know in the wine industry about Repour. If a friend mentions they use a Coravin System, I tell them to switch to Repour. If they pour an exclusive wine at tastings, I tell them to get Repour. If they have a special bottle of wine at home, but don’t want to waste it by only drinking half, I tell them to get Repour. They will never go back, I promise.
I did the following processes to find these results.
- I opened fresh bottles and poured approx. 3.5-4 oz out of each bottle. I immediately resealed the bottles with a repour, and placed it in my wine fridge standing up. I repeated this weekly and kept track of all dates on the bottle. I repeated until the last pour was gone. This means I opened the bottle a total of 7 times. I tested the following bottles fresh: 2006 Fevre Montee de Tonnere, 2013 Brewer Clifton 3D Pinot, 2014 Topa Mountain Bien Nacido Chardonnay, 1982 Ch. Figeac, Canvasback Cabernet 2012 MAGNUM, 2012 Seghesio Home Ranch Zinfandel and 2010 Damilano Barolo.
- I used repour on bottles which were opened for 24-36 hours and had approx. half of the wine gone. 2012 Bien Nacido Syrah, 2012 Bien Nacido Pinot, 2014 Solomon Hills Chardonnay (used after a sales trip when the wines were open and tasted all day).
In every single instance, the wine not only tasted exceptional the second, third and fourth time etc, but it tasted "fresher" than the day it was opened. Sometimes, in the instance of the Topa Mountain, a relatively low alcohol Chardonnay with little oak, it had to open up again because it was so fresh.
I can see the value of repour in so many instances. BTG programs with high end wines, tasting menus, Chef's Tables, Distributors and samples, Suppliers and Samples, Tasting Rooms, Concert Venues, Catering, Consumers.
I know for one I am going to use them on every single sales trip I go on. I can cut my samples in half, if not by a third, and save our winery cases of wine and hundreds of dollars a year. And for only pennies to the dollar per repour. The fact that even when the bottles have been opened for a whole day, they still work was the kicker for me.