Repour - TiggerK Experiment #1 - Results are in...

[TiggerK]

Hi everyone,

Last night saw the conclusion to my first experiment with the Repour stopper, and the results were very interesting. I have no personal or commercial ties to the product, just wanted to report my findings in the hope it may be of interest to others.

The wine in question was a Punt Road Emperor’s Prize Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2016, under screwcap. Around the $20AU mark, I believe the wine is a decent example of an everyday modern Australian chardonnay which I think punches a little bit above its price point.

Three bottles, same wine, purchased at same time from the same retailer.

Bottle A was opened on 25th April around 4pm, half the contents poured out, immediately tightly resealed with its original screwcap, and put into the fridge at around 4C.

Bottle B was opened on 25th April around 4pm, half the contents poured out, immediately tightly resealed with a new Repour stopper, and put into the fridge at around 4C.

Bottle C was not opened, and was put into the fridge at around 4C at the same time. Then an hour before leaving the house last night, this bottle was opened, poured into a decanter for a brief 10 minute decant, poured back into the bottle, screwcap back on, back into the fridge until I took the three bottles to dinner, 9 days after the first two were originally opened.

I ensured the wines were carefully masked and presented blind, both to myself and my three dinner companions, all experienced tasters with palates I respect. Of course I knew what they were, but not what order they were served in, my dinner companions just knew I was presenting three blind white wines, nothing else. Let’s now call the three blind, mixed up wines, 1, 2 and 3.

Number 3 immediately stood out as the most vibrant and high quality on the nose and palate. There were murmurs of approval.
Number 1 was quite good, yet not as vibrant, lifted or exciting as Number 3, and on the palate was a touch dull in comparison to 3 as well. But still a fairly good wine.
Number 2 was a bit tired and lacking energy, acid line and drive. Not terrible, just paled in comparison to the others.

After this initial round of tasting and discussion, I announced that all wines were the same, and what the test was all about.

Everyone soon agreed that the favourite (Wine 3) was probably the freshly opened wine, Wine 1 was likely the 9 day old Repour and Wine 2 the 9 day old Screwcap sealed wine.

Wrong. We unveiled and found that the favourite wine was the Repour stoppered one!

I am now convinced the Repour device works very well at keeping a half full bottle of wine very fresh and vibrant for over a week in the fridge. There were zero signs of any oxidation at all, the wine showed extremely well, both on the nose and palate. Wine 2 was not showing much in the way of oxidation either, which did surprise me a little, nonetheless Wine 2 was fairly lifeless. Also, I suspect the newly opened wine (1) may have shown better with a few more hours of air, but the difference between the Repour stoppered wine and the screwcap stoppered wine after 9 days was dramatic. In theory the bottle should last much longer than 9 days while retaining excellent aromas and freshness, a month or more would not surprise me based on this result.

Prior to this experiment, I’ve been using a single Repour across a couple of bottles for a couple of weeks, taking a good glass sized pour from the bottle each night or two until the bottle is finished, then transferring the same Repour stopper to a different bottle and repeating over 3 or 4 glasses. In this case a (different) Australian Chardonnay and a young Village Red Burgundy. Both bottles showed no signs of deterioration across a week or so and drank as well on day 6 or 7 as they did on day 1 or 2. Not sure exactly how long the oxygen absorbing properties of the Repour would last when used like this, but I certainly got 8 or so ‘open and restopper’ events across two bottles across 2 weeks out of a single RePour. (Of course they recommend disposing after a single bottle, to ensure each bottle is correctly preserved. Hmm....)

Here in Australia, the price ranges from around $2.40 to $4 per Repour stopper, depending on how many you buy, shipping etc. For leftovers after tasting events, and for spreading a bottle or two across a week or three, this device is perfect for me. I’ve just ordered a bunch more!

Cheers
Tim

[Chuck]

Thank for the tip Tim. I have looked online but all sales are from os. Where can you buy them in OZ?

Carl

[TiggerK]

Hi Carl, search for 'repour my wine saver' and you should find the australian distributor.

[Hunter]

Nice work Tigger, can you use the same stopper more then once?

[TiggerK]

Nice work Tigger, can you use the same stopper more then once?

Prior to this experiment, I’ve been using a single Repour across a couple of bottles for a couple of weeks, taking a good glass sized pour from the bottle each night or two until the bottle is finished, then transferring the same Repour stopper to a different bottle and repeating over 3 or 4 glasses. In this case a (different) Australian Chardonnay and a young Village Red Burgundy. Both bottles showed no signs of deterioration across a week or so and drank as well on day 6 or 7 as they did on day 1 or 2. Not sure exactly how long the oxygen absorbing properties of the Repour would last when used like this, but I certainly got 8 or so ‘open and restopper’ events across two bottles across 2 weeks out of a single RePour. (Of course they recommend disposing after a single bottle, to ensure each bottle is correctly preserved. Hmm....)

So Yes, but obviously it's finite. Someone calculated you could get an average of 10-20 'restoppers' out of it, depending on the bottle fill level. By restopper I mean each time the repour is taken out and put back into a bottle. But you run the risk of it's absorption ability running out the further you push it.

[Ozzie W]

I've been using Winesave (Argon gas), but this looks much better. Will give it a try.

To cover magnums, it has an oxygen absorption capacity of 1500 ml of air minimum. So in theory you should be able to reuse on a second bottle with confidence. A third bottle if you do the calculations and keep track of how much air it's absorbed.

Edit: The question then becomes, how to store the Repour between bottles so it doesn't absorb air, which would defeat the purpose of reusing it?

[TiggerK]

Edit: The question then becomes, how to store the Repour between bottles so it doesn't absorb air, which would defeat the purpose of reusing it?

What, you have time between bottles??

I recall on WF, someone suggested a small plastic airtight container, or plastic bag.

[dave vino]

Probably a good advertisement for decanting as well?

Anyone cut one up? Interested in seeing the inside of one.

[odyssey]

It was a really interesting experiment, thanks again for setting it up! Although you have no involvement with importing and selling them Tim, with those results maybe you should.

Probably a good advertisement for decanting as well?

Agreed, it highlights the worth of decanting young (and/or screwcapped) Chardonnay - if not other white wines too.

[dave vino]

*cough*

Must be an Iron Oxide or something, very attracted to magnets.

[img]http://www.grapemates.org/files/Misc/IMG_2173.JPG[/img]

[TiggerK]

Yes, I understand it’s ferrous iron and salt. I’m no chemist, but yeah that’s a formula for rust. Which I assume manifests in an ability to attract oxygen!! Nice sacrifice Dave!

[TiggerK]

P.S Someone didn’t think of this concept before 2017? Duh.

[dave vino]

Yes, I understand it’s ferrous iron and salt. I’m no chemist, but yeah that’s a formula for rust. Which I assume manifests in an ability to attract oxygen!! Nice sacrifice Dave!

Au contraire, that was keeping my Sami Odi Little Wine alive for a week and a bit. (not that it needed any help at this young age)

[Mivvy]

Good timing Tim. I ordered a 4-pack last week to test out and wondered if it was possible to use them across a number of bottles.

[Mahmoud Ali]

What this experiment shows is that slow aeration, usually a la decanter, is what makes wine taste better. Thus neither the freshly poured wine, nor the screw capped reseal showed best, but rather the repour-sealed slow oxygenated wine. If one altered the time between the opening and reseal and the drinking I imnagine the results would differ accordingly. Hence the age old question of how long a decant is best for each wine we open, whether young or old.

With two wine drinkers in my household I'm not sure what use a repour stopper would serve in my household. A bottle of wine barely makes it to the next day let alone a week.

Cheers ......................... Mahmoud.

[Polymer]

It shows that decanting CAN make a wine taste better not that it does.

It also seems to suggest the Repour can help preserve a wine...Not sure to what extent this works out but the results look promising.

I would be more interested in how long is this good for. Should we refrigerate at all (Does it compromise the seal at all making it colder?). How many times can it be used? Does the length of time impact how often it can be used?

What happens if the wine touches the repour? I'd imagine this is not healthy...

[TiggerK]

Yes, the point is that is preserves the already opened wine in a fairly 'static' state for long periods. Decanting times and how long the bottle has been open for without the repour stopper is of course a factor is the end result.

I think refrigerating slows down the reactions and definitely helps preserve the wine better, both red or white. I would be surprised if the seal was less effective in the colder temps, rubber prob doesn't care much about 4C or 20C differences. Certainly a possibility though.

And I would speculate that the length of time while stoppered with repour would not have much impact on how often it could be used, maybe just a little bit? Once the O2 is 'sucked out' of the air space, in theory it's done it's job and just stays in nitrogen dominant limbo until re-opened. Maybe some O2 is dissolved out of the wine very gradually which could affect it, or a tiny bit via the seal, but if so, it wouldn't be much?

And yes, they do NOT recommend storing the wine on it's side! I doubt it would cause any major health issues, being iron and salt, but wouldn't want to put it to the test! Unless I desired more minerality in my chablis. I would assume there is some kind of health certification rules regarding a product like this, if not here, then def in the US where it started?

Look forward to hearing more results across various scenarios as they come to hand.

Cheers
Tim

[Ozzie W]

And yes, they do NOT recommend storing the wine on it's side! I doubt it would cause any major health issues, being iron and salt, but wouldn't want to put it to the test! Unless I desired more minerality in my chablis. I would assume there is some kind of health certification rules regarding a product like this, if not here, then def in the US where it started?

In theory, it could have a membrane/barrier which blocks liquid/wine, but still allows oxygen particles to permeate. Could you see anything like this when you took it apart?

Depending on the volume of wine still left in the bottle, storing the bottle on it's side could result in wine covering the part of the Repour device in the bottle neck. I assume that this would prevent it from extracting oxygen from the headspace, as the oxygen would need to pass through the wine to get to the Repour device, instead of just passing though air. I reckon this is the reason why they say not to use with a bottle stored on its side.

Ordered a 10 pack and looking forward to trying it out.

[TiggerK]

Just a quick followup to this.... Opened a Tyrrell's Steven Shiraz 2017, enjoyed about 2/3 of it, so the remaining 1/3 bottle was stoppered with a Repour and put into the fridge (4C). Never quite got around to it, and eventually thought, hey let's just leave it for a longer test. Finally opened on Day 16 and it still tasted fresh and vibrant, like it was opened the day before. Fairly robust wine either way, but no way it would have been this fresh without the Repour. Good tool for the wine lovers arsenal.

Another story... A Luke Lambert Crudo Chardonnay 2017 was polished off (Repour w/ half a bottle a night 3 nights apart) and no wine yet opened to use the repour on. Hmm, so I filled the Crudo bottle with Water and put the Repour back in, thinking a small air gap should keep it's workload low until a new bottle came along.

Yeah fair enough, except I forgot the bottle was full of water and along with a bunch of other wines, I took it along to a mate's place to finish off! Hmm, looks very pale, what's happened to the nose, I normally like this wine.......

[redstuff]

If you have a vacuum sealer you could make a small bag, seal the repour in it and it should keep indefinitely.

[odyssey]

Yeah fair enough, except I forgot the bottle was full of water and along with a bunch of other wines, I took it along to a mate's place to finish off! Hmm, looks very pale, what's happened to the nose, I normally like this wine.......

one of my brothers did that to a bottle of white zambucca. a year later, party happening, late at night "lets do shots!"... "hmm... this is the weakest zambucca ever!".

Smart idea though! Maybe pick your worst ever bottle, that wine you never want to drink.

If you have a vacuum sealer you could make a small bag, seal the repour in it and it should keep indefinitely.

Another option, the other night I was in the same situation and wrapped it in glad wrap, then into a ziploc bag (pushed most of the air out). I figured, I'm not sure of the air ingress of each but one of them's gotta kinda work, at least for short-term.