Customer Reviews

Vacu Vin Wine Gift Set

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been using my Concerto for several months now, and I am a raving fan! I drink wine frequently, but seldom finish a bottle in one evening. The Concerto is so easy to use to "vacuum-pack" your leftover wine for storage in the fridge. The unit makes a little chirping noise when the vacuum is reached, so it's foolproof to use. Wine stays fresher longer, and I am a happy enophile! This set also includes a crystal wine server, which is great for stopping drips! For the price, this is a fabulous gift (for you or someone else!).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I had the originial wine saver vacu vin but this one does work better with the new stoppers that click to indicate you have pumped out the right amount of air. The key to preserving wine is to wet the stopper a little bit and then apply pressure while pumping out the air. It really does seal shut. Wine stays good for about 10 days or so.

We love it. The corkscrew works great with real or artficial corks, and the vacuum sealer really works. Rinseing the vacuum in water every once in a while gets rid of the slight sticking problem that can be caused by wine squirting through the vacuum cap during pumping.

The corkscrew is good, especially for people with diminished hand strength. The other tools are useful too, but it's the vacuum pump that really makes a difference.


Looking at the reviews of this an other Vacuvin products, you see reports that are deeply contradictory. It's interesting that there is such a divergence of experience with such a simple product. The ideas behind Vacuvin are pretty simple.
First, air is the enemy of an open bottle of wine. Bacteria in the air want to turn alcohol into vinegar. The air itself oxidizes and dulls the taste of all but the most robust wines.
Second, you can remove some of the air with a simple pump and thereby slow down the rate at which wine deteriorates.

Why then, do we have both no-star and five-star reactions to this product?
Maybe the biggest source of disagreement is expectations. Vacuvin slows the deterioration of wine in the bottle, but it doesn't stop it.

Another possible reason for all the disagreement might be a question of temperature. The biochemical reactions that kill your wine are temperature sensitive. They proceed faster when the wine is warm and slow down when it's cool. Putting a pumped-out bottle in the refrigerator or wine cooler will slow down the spoilage processes and make Vacuvin more effective.
A third issue is the way the wine is handled before the Vacuvin plug goes in. If wine has a lot of air dissolved in it by being poured from decanter to bottle, there's no system that will keep it fresh.

For more info on wine storage, check out my book, New Short Course in Wine,The

--Lynn Hoffman, author of New Short Course in Wine,The and bang BANG: A Novel from Kunati Books.

The tools all work great. The corkscrew is so easy to use and can pull the cork all the way out with zero fear of tearing. If you like hearing that pop, then just leave a bit of cork in the bottle and pull the whole thing out. :) I'm not a person with a lot of wine knowledge or taste, but I do like to have a small glass or two late in the evening to wind down before bedtime. I buy the 1.5liter bottles from Costco which lasts about 4-6 nights. The wine of course loses something by the last night even with this vacuum sealer, but it doesn't make the wine taste bad at all in my opinion. My only negative comment of the pump is that the pumping before I go to bed can be quite taxing, especially as I get to the end of the bottle. My wife says I will get a heart attack from this thing one day. She actually bought me an electronic vacuum pump from Sharper Image as a gift because she was worried. This manual unit is much more superior. I couldn't lay the bottle on it's side with that electronic attachment, and the vacuum pressure it produces is much less. The only thing I would like to see is an optional electric pump to go with this bottle sealer. That would be great.

Everything in this basic set works. It does not possess a substantial build quality. When using the opener the turning "wings" flex during the first few hard turns reminding you it's plastic. Utilitarian at this price point but ironically would not recommend this gift set for, well...gifting.

This is another one of those must have things for the wine person... The vacu vin keeps the wine fresh for a longer period of time. If you just recork your wine then it will go bad quicker, this prolongs that time. Really!!! The cork screw works great even for my wife who has small hands.

I just used this product and it does take the air out of the bottle very easily.
The cork screw opener doesn't seem well made, but do the job.
The only real problem I had was that the vine server has sharp edges.

I needed a way to preserve opened wine bottles so that I can enjoy a glass or two a day. I also needed a better corkscrew. This set fulfilled both requirements well and at a reasonable price.

It's neat that the corkscrew also pulls out the cork when the screw hits the bottom of the cork.

The vacuum pump clicks to let you know when to stop. It looks like it has some lubricant and is not meant to be washed.

I got this for my wife, and she loves it. I don't drink, and a bottle of wine all for herself is a little much. Previously her wine would over-oxidize by the time she got back to it. Now that's not an issue. The corkscrew was an extra, and I didn't give much thought to it. But it works very well.