Le Verre de Vin technology was developed in the early 1990’s by a team of engineers and wine professionals in the UK and is now in use by more than 45,000 wines-by-the-glass programs around the world. While at the International Restaurant & Food Service Show of New York at the Jacob Javits Center I watched as Richard Hewitt, the President of Bermar America and the distributor of the unit in the US, explained and demonstrated its use to a captivated audience. His clipped British accent and common sense language drew me to the M.Tucker booth.Le Verre de Vin is a wine preservation system that effectively preserves an unlimited number of still, sparkling and fortified wines. Each use of the system takes two to five seconds (depending upon the amount of wine remaining) during which time a precisely controlled vacuum is created within the bottle. The reason I like the unit is there is no need to purchase anything additional (no cartridges). The only added expense would be buying more of the reusable stoppers to replace lost and worn stoppers (one gets 20 still and three sparkling stoppers with the unit (additional still wine stoppers cost $2.50 and Champagne stoppers are $12). I have tried the VacuVin, Private Preserve and even splurged for the Coravin (before it had its safety concerns with exploding bottles). Each had its day but nothing matches Le Verre de Vin.Le Verre de Vin creates a precisely controlled vacuum above still wines, regardless of how much wine remains in the bottle. It is the only commercial-grade wine-preservation system ever developed that effectively re-seals sparkling wine and champagne. The key to preserving a bottle once opened is you must precisely control the atmosphere in contact with the wine. You need to remove enough oxygen to impede oxidation, but you must also leave enough oxygen for the activated volatile compounds to evolve and develop the wine’s character, so it will show and perform once poured “Fresh from the Bottle.”Oxidation is rarely a concern with preserving Champagnes and sparkling wines. The issue is related to the fact that during the fermentation process the sparkling wine is used to reaching a bottle pressure of 8 to 10 atmospheres of pressure within the bottle. When opened the pressure is then released. The Champagne/ Sparkling wine will then constantly release CO2 until it equalizes to 1 atmosphere of pressure. The wine will be deemed flat and stale well before the sparkling wine looses all of its dissolved CO2. Le Verre de Vin sparkling wine preservation technology safely re-pressures the bottle with CO2 to the optimal pressure levels needed to create pressure equilibrium at the wines surface, locking in the freshness within the Champagne/sparkling wine, keeping it fresh for over three weeks. Le Verre de Vin stand-alone preservation systems are available in three styles- Classic, Compact and Tower and with three preservation options: COST- $2,295 to $3,970.Single – Still wine preservationSingle – Sparkling wine/champagne preservationDual – Still wine & sparkling wine/champagne preservationFor More Information- www.BermarAmerica.com
