vacu vin question

[newsguy]

on four occasions in the past six weeks or so, i've gone to reopen a bottle that had recently been sealed using a vacu vin stopper, only to find that the seal was broken and the bottle was full of air. this has happened on bottles that were sealed nearly a week ago and ones sealed the night before.

am i pumping too much or doing something else wrong? or do these rubber sealers wear out and need to be replaced? i bought 3 of them a little more than a year ago, and typically have only one in use at any given time (so it's not exactly as if they're getting unusual wear and tear).

[Scoop]

Do you run some water over the stopper before pumping the air out? A moist stopper seals better, both according to the directions and in my experience.

Cheers,

Scoop

[hotwine]

In my experience, they only work for overnight storage. And although you'll find a lot of folks on this board who swear they don't work at all, I use them frequently, just not for any longer than 24 hours. And be sure to put the bottle in the fridge.

[Scoop]

I pretty much agree with that, HW, and the fridge is an importnat point, too.

Cheers,

Scoop

[Thomas]

Nah, they don't work at all--had to say that or I would be accused of softening...but they really don't work at all. Chalk up the idea that they do work to some sort of mass hysteria.

[newsguy]

thanks for the replies. yes, i have been running water around the outside of the stoppers, and yes, i do keep the bottles in the fridge.

so... i'm still seeking ideas.

[winoweenie]

Newsie-Bubba, the answer be 'zactly like ole' Foodie say, " Done Work ". The only way to really preserve wine besides the Weener-Method (DrinktheSucker) is using " Private Preserve ". You can find this at you friendly wine shop. WW

[newsguy]

well, i did a web search for "private reserve" and didn't come up with anything re. storage. so, i'll keep an eye out in wine shops.

as for the vacu vin, i've given it a lot of thought and realize that while i always wet the seal of the stopper before i put it in the bottle the first time, i don't recall that i always do it on subsequent usage.

i know this must seem like a foreign concept for many of you, but with the wife away in school, a bottle of wine will typically last me for 3 (sometimes even 4) dinners during the week.

frankly, i DO prefer the WW method: just drink it!

[RAD]

I can attest to the Private Reserve as well. Finally bought a can recently (I don't drain EVERY bottle on the first night, unfortunately), and starting using it + fridge. I've had bottles last for a week.

RAD

[hotwine]

I don't care for the stuff. Will give mine up to anyone passing through south Texas.

[Drew]

I think they work for 2-3 days but no more. I've had good experience with my vacu-vin....maybe I just know how to pump.

Drew

[Thomas]

that's not it Drew; you are into the mass hysteria thing; in this case, youse is all hysterical about the thing working...

What we need is a scientific explanation of how and why the vacu-vin works. Does it really take out the oxygen without agitating some of that oxygen into solution (which is what I believe happens during the pumping, which of course, if true, would defeat its purpose). Also, the pumping seems a violent way to treat wine and likely shakes up the stuff too much, which would be how the oxygen is getting into solution, if it is.

If the vacu-vin is so good would you use it to create a vacuum when putting up vegetables?

[mrdutton]

Sure, if there were an appropriate connection on the container holding the veggies. Why not? The pump does, indeed draw a vacuum.

The pumping action is not so physical and violent that it causes the bottle to move or the contents to shake. I can draw a vacuum on a bottle without significantly moving the bottle. The pumping action is up and down along the vertical axis of the bottle.

Although I've not included a gauge to measure the vacuum produced, I really don't think that enough of a vacuum is produced to allow any significant amount of dissolved oxygen to come out of solution. So I don't really think that the vacu-vin's pumping action causes any turbulence in the wine.

You'd have to have a pretty darn strong vacuum pump to cause turbulence in the wine thru the action of releasing dissolved oxygen/gases.

I think the thing just draws a few inches of water vacuum which is just enough to cause the seal to swell and prevent the introduction of any additional oxygen down through the neck of the bottle. It certainly does not completely evacuate all gases from the bottle.

Having spent 26.5 years in the military, you can trust me when it comes to knowledge of a vacuum and its affect on gases; I have a lot of experience!!!

[Drew]

Foodie, all I can tell you is that my wife and I experimented with many bottles of wine. Some we left open, some we simply stuck the cork back in and the others we vacu-vined. The Vacu-vin bottles were always better than the corked ones, which were better than the open ones. BTW, Vacu-vining causes no disturbance to the wine. Now there are differences in vacu-vins. The one we use is made by Turning Leaf and was purchased at Turkes (sp?) leather goods as a gift to us. The seal always stays intact and we've experienced no leaking. We did try the ones that hang from the displays in the liquor stores but they almost always leaked in air. I had never thought of using one nor sought one out prior to receiving the one as a gift, so mass hysteria has nothing to do with it. Generally speaking though, our bottles are empty after day two but we've noticed the wine is fresher and livelier than if we simply re-corked.... I remain ignorant but happy.

Drew

[winoweenie]

As the Bard said." Much Ado About Nuttin'". The Weener-Vin still be the best methodolgy know to lips. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img] WW

[Thomas]

Drew, you missed an opportunity: I can think of many more racy instruments in a "leather goods" store than vacu-vins...and Mike, I empathize with your military/vacuum analogy, which still has me chuckling.

But seriously, unless those things have been re-designed lately, I distinctly remember seeing bubbles emanating from the wine within while pumping the vv. Though mild, it still is agitation, and it speaks to potential oxygen activity.

As ww says, though, much ado 'bout "mostly" nuthin'. As soon as we open a bottle of wine we have exposed it to enough oxygen for it to deteriorate no matter how many devices we employ. The first taste is hardly ever the same as the second, and on downward--or upward with many wines. So my sage advice is to dispense with all so-called wine-saving devices and find a way to finish each bottle at one sitting, even if it means inviting someone over; especially if it means that; wine is a social lubricant as well as a healthy food. You can also learn to finish the bottle yourself; it takes a long time to learn, but it's worth the effort, and I can attest to that fact...

[Drew]

I agree and do, most of the time, finish a bottle with the wife. However, she gets home from work 5 hours after me and I MUST leave her share and the vaccu-vin seems to do the trick. Why so tough on the vaccu-vin...did one murder a family member? [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

Drew

[Thomas]

..it was my favorite aunt; she got sucked into the bottle when she lifted the rubber stopper to pour. My aunt was a slight woman so the insurance company won the case by showing that she was just slight enough to fit into the neck of a bottle of wine, and it was not the fault of Vacu-vin that she only took liquid nourishment and weighed about seven pounds, too light to resist the force of that vacuum suction created by the wonderfully designed, superior wine-saving device.

The real reason: I do not believe it works and I would rather people spend their money at my shop for wine to consume instead of for devices to preserve wine.

The very real reason: a combination of the above and my opinionated character.

[wondersofwine]

LOL about auntie.

[winoweenie]

And agin' I second the worthlessness of this inferior device, disregarding Hotsies' imperial taste-buds that tastes an inert gas [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]. WW