A new system to extract wine from a bottle without removing the cork, which has been refined over the last 13 years, has finally been launched in America. It is already being used in a number of restaurants in New York and San Francisco.

The Coravin Wine Access System allows one to withdraw a desired quantity from a sealed bottle via a hollow needle that pierces the foil and cork. The remaining wine is then pressurised with Argon gas, which slows oxidation. The cork reseals itself naturally, and the wine in the bottle continues to evolve as it would normally without exposure to air.

Over the 13-year testing period, the inventor of Coravin, Greg Lambrecht, has tried various gases and pressures on samples drawn at different times from the same bottles. He says he typically has several bottles on the go for years and even shared a bottle of 1961 Château La Mission Haut-Brion with about 14 people over the course of four years.

Charles Curtis, ex-Christie’s Hong Kong wine chief and Coravin advisory board member, says the system is unique and he has blind-tasted numerous wines preserved using Coravin against fresh samples, with sommeliers, masters of wine and other experts, and they could not detect any difference.