Coravin Accessories: A Useful Wine Guide

How to get even more value out of your Coravin

The Coravin Wine Preservation System is just that — a system. The Device itself is very flexible in that it can handle many different attachments, optimizing your use of the system for how you drink wine. Here is a breakdown of what is available.

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Coravin capsules

Until recently, there was only one kind of Coravin capsule — Coravin Pure™ Capsules filled with 99.99% pure argon gas. Now, with the addition of the Coravin Sparkling, there are also capsules filled with carbon dioxide — Coravin Pure™ Sparkling CO2 Capsules. CO2 and argon capsules not interchangeable.

In both cases, the capsules fill the wine bottle with gas as you pour wine out of it, thereby ensuring the wine is not expose to harmful oxygen. At least one capsule comes with each Coravin system, but since they are consumable you can buy them a la carte, too.

How long does a Coravin Pure Capsule last?

According to Coravin, when using a Timeless Model — Models Two, Three, Five, and Six — each capsule pours approximately 15 5-ounce glasses of wine (or 3 standard-sized bottles). For Model Eleven, you might get more efficient use of argon because the pours are automated. For the Pivot, Coravin's newest argon-consuming model, you can get 20 5-ounce glasses of wine (or 4 standard-sized bottles) from each capsule. For Coravin Sparkling, each capsule preserves up to 7 standard bottles of sparkling wine for up to two weeks each.

One of the most common complaints among owners of a Coravin system is that they go through capsules much faster than advertised. There are varying reasons for this, but it’s definitely important to note that your mileage may vary and you can’t operate your Coravin System without the argon (or CO2) capsules.

Important tip for all Coravin Models! If you’re planning to finish the bottle, remove the Coravin and uncork the bottle as you normally would. This is a huge opportunity to not waste argon gas.

Argon capsules are sold online and at retail in packs of 3, 6, 12, and 24. CO2 capsules are sold only in six-packs.

How much do Coravin capsules cost?

As is common with consumable products, the more you buy the more you save. Coravin capsules cost anywhere from $5 to $8.98 each (or from $1.67 to $2.99 per bottle).

Coravin has recently lowered the price per capsule (and effectively the price per bottle) for frequent users (particularly if you buy 12 capsules on subscription or 24 capsules in a one-time purchase.

Join Club Coravin to get exclusive discounted pricing on six or more capsules. Save 10% more with a subscription (skip or cancel any time).

3 Coravin Capsules 6 Coravin Capsules 12 Coravin Capsules 24 Coravin Capsules
3 Capsules 6 Capsules 12 Capsules 24 Capsules
Timeless Usage 9 bottles 18 bottles 36 bottles 72 bottles
Pivot Usage 12 bottles 24 bottles 48 bottles 96 bottles
Retail Price $26.95 $52.95 $99.95 $199.95
per Capsule $8.98 $8.82 $8.33 $8.33
per Bottle (Timeless) $2.99 $2.94 $2.78 $2.78
per Bottle (Pivot) $2.25 $2.20 $2.08 $2.08
Club Coravin Price $26.95 $39.00 $66.00 $120.00
per Capsule $8.98 $6.50 $5.50 $5.00
per Bottle (Timeless) $2.99 $2.17 $1.83 $1.67
per Bottle (Pivot) $2.25 $1.63 $1.38 $1.25
Subscription Price (Save 10%) $24.26 $35.10 $59.40 n/a
per Capsule $8.08 $5.85 $4.95 n/a
per Bottle (Timeless) $2.69 $1.95 $1.65
Best Price
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per Bottle (Pivot) $2.02 $1.46 $1.24
Best Price
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Shop Coravin Capsules

Coravin needles

The needle is a core component of the Coravin wine system. The needles are color coded to be easy to distinguish among them if you opt to have a variety of them. All units come with what is called a Standard needle (it has a black colored ring).

Coravin Needles

Coravin also produces a variety of other specialized needles, from left to right: Vintage needle, Standard needle, Fast Pour needle, Premium needle. These are the needles for all models except Model Eleven.

Three Needle Kit (Vintage, Standard, and Fast Pour) — $69.95

The Standard needle has the black band (making the band hard to see, but still easily distinguishable from the others). Its pour speed is 25-29 seconds for a 5-oz. pour. Note, if you have an older Coravin System, this is a newer version of the Standard needle and is ~20% faster than the older version. For most uses, the Standard needle is what you need. Buying options:

The Fast Pour needle is a slightly wider needle and has a red band. It pours a 5-oz. glass of wine in 19-25 seconds. Like the Standard needle, this needle has been upgraded and if you have an older version, you’ll find this needle is ~20% faster than the original Fast Pour needle. The whole benefit of this needle is to save 6-9 seconds every time you pour a glass of wine.

The Vintage needle with a silver band is specially designed for older bottles with older corks (at least 5 years, but more like 10+ years) and is slightly narrower than the Standard needle. The pour time is significantly slower at 53-57 seconds for a 5-oz. pour.

The Premium needle with a gold band, in our opinion, ought to be the standard-issue needle. It has the same pour time as the Standard needle, but reduces the amount of “cork remnants in wine.” Natural cork “fragments” appear in both the glass and the bottle.

How often do I need to replace Coravin needles?

Under normal usage, most of the Coravin needles are long-lasting. When the black Teflon coating on the bottom of your needle starts to wear away, you’ll see silver showing through. That’s when it’s time to buy replacement needles. Proper care, storage, and usage — or lack thereof — will impact longevity.

Coravin screw caps

Coravin was invented for use with bottles that have a natural cork. That said, much wine these days comes with agglomerated cork, fake cork, or a screw cap. For fake corks and screw caps, the needle-based Coravins won't work.

There are two Coravin solutions to the fake cork/screw cap problem: 1) Use the Coravin Screw Caps which keep a bottle fresh for up to three months or 2) Buy a Coravin Pivot ($99) which keeps a bottle fresh up to four weeks.

Coravin Regular-sized Screw Caps Buy it for $29.95 Coravin Mixed Pack Screw Caps Buy it for $29.95

Coravin Screw Caps come in several Timeless model bundles, but they can also be purchased a la carte in six-packs for $29.95. This enables you to have six different screw top wines under Coravin at one time.

Choose a six-pack of all “regular size” screw caps or the Variety six-pack with four “regular size” screw caps and two “large size” screw caps for larger bottles. I recommend the second option because you'll be prepared for any wine bottle.

Each Screw Cap can be used for up to 50 insertions.

Aerators

It’s sort of ironic that a system designed to keep oxygen out of your wine offers an accessory for getting oxygen into your wine. Of course, that’s the whole point — let oxygen improve the wine in your glass while keeping it out of the bottle.

If you currently decant your wines or have an aerator like a Vinturi, you’ll know the value of this aeration process. If you don’t use a decanter for your regular wine consumption, I’ll quickly explain the decanting/aeration benefit.

Why aerate wine?

The parts of wine that we enjoy the most are the aromatics — that which we can smell and taste. These compounds “come alive” when exposed to oxygen (a chemical reaction), allowing the wine to “develop” over time.

Decanting and aeration accelerate this development process which would happen much more slowly if the wine was left in the bottle and merely swirled in a glass.

There is neither consensus nor consistency about how much oxygen any given wine should be exposed to, so it’s worth experimenting with these processes yourself. A general rule of thumb is that it’s a good idea to aerate young, full-bodied wines and not to aerate older, more delicate wines. Young generally means 5 years or less, “older” generally means 10 years or more.

The Coravin aerators

Coravin Aerator Buy it for $29.95 Timeless Aerator Pivot Aerator Buy it for $19.95 Pivot Aerator

As manipulating a Coravin device and a separate aerator to pour a single glass of wine would be cumbersome and likely lead to spilled wine, broken glassware, or both, Coravin smartly created aerator attachments for their Timeless and Pivot models.

The Coravin Aerator is a small attachment for the pour spout. Its aeration is achieved by pushing wine through carefully placed and sized holes which create small jets of wine. These jets expand the surface area of wine exposed to air, thereby rapidly aerating the wine as it enters the glass.

Using a Coravin aerator is equivalent to decanting a wine for 60-90 minutes. This is a must-have feature and highly recommended for use on all of your wines, but most especially young reds and heavy-bodied whites suitable for aging.

Coravin display stands

What happens to your Coravin System when you’re not using it probably isn’t the first thing you’re thinking about when choosing which one you want to buy. Luckily, Coravin has thought about this for you.

When not in use, your Coravin System might live in a drawer, but you can also get one of their nice display stands to show it off, or a travel case to keep it secure all the time.

There are two types of display stands available for Coravin Systems — the “Base” which comes in metal ($39.95) and plastic ($29.95) and the Premium Pedestal ($69.95). These stands are sometimes available in Coravin bundles, but can also be purchased on their own or as part of an accessory bundle.

Coravin Plastic Pedestal Buy it for $29.95 Coravin Metal Pedestal Buy it for $39.95 Coravin Premium Pedestal Buy it for $69.95

Carry/Travel Cases

There are two Coravin cases. The fabric one is for Timeless Models One through Six and the leather one is designed for Model Eleven ($99.95).

Coravin Cloth Carrying Case Buy it for $39.95 Coravin Leather Carrying Case Open
Buy it for $99.95

Coravin accessory sets

Sometimes when you buy a Coravin, you’re buying a device with accessories. But some Coravins are now available without the accessories and you can add them on a la carte. Coravin also conveniently bundles most-used accessories into a single set. Here is the selection of pre-bundled Coravin accessories.

Coravin Accessory Set — Timeless Essentials Buy it for $59.95
Timeless Essentials Set (an aerator, a Classic base, and two screw caps) $99.95 Coravin Accessory Set – Show Off Your Wines Buy it for $166.75
Best value Show Your Wine Off Accessory Set (a premium pedestal, three capsules, and a three-needle set) $166.75
Jessyca Frederick

Guide by: Jessyca Frederick

Inspired by frequent questions from friends and family about different wines and wine practices, I write Useful Wine Guides so that people I don’t know might benefit from my knowledge and desire to share information, too.