One of only 26 female Master Sommeliers in the U.S. (as of November, 2015), New Yorker Laura Maniec dishes about the delights of the Coravin System (its new Model Two has just been released), a transformative new technology that allows users to pour wine while keeping the original cork intact. Without wasting a drop, wine connoisseurs and professionals alike can enjoy their favorite and finest wines by the glass whenever they want—and keep it fresh for months.
When the Coravin System is put in place, a thin, hollow needle is inserted through the cork to extract the wine. The bottle is then pressurized with argon, an inert gas, after which the wine flows through the needle and into your glass. Once your wine is poured, the needle is removed, and the cork reseals itself. It’s an exceptional new technology changing the future of the wine industry, and Maniec, for one, couldn’t be more excited.
The Coravin System Model Two
What is most important to you about wine?
Wine combines many of my favorite things in life: travel, culture, language, history, food and nature. I love telling the stories of the winemaker and regions of my favorite wines and sharing them with the guests in my restaurant.
What’s your relationship with wine?
I am a Master Sommelier and the owner of three wine focused restaurants and bars. Wine is my profession, but it is more than that; through wine I have met some of my closest friends and traveled all over the world. Wine is a great love of mine.
Tell us about the innovation that changed the game for you.
Coravin is one of the greatest innovations in the world of wine, and my favorite recent wine invention. Coravin allows the consumer or wine professional the ability to access a bottle of wine without removing the cork thus preventing the wine from beginning oxidation process. Before the Coravin, opening a rare or an expensive bottle of wine would be saved for a special occasion but now bottles can be tasted, tested and used in the amount needed for any day.
What did you do before you had a Coravin?
Before I had the Coravin, we might waste wine when we had a wine class because if we opened six bottles for a course but only had a few people, we would have the costs associated with not using the remainder of the bottles. Now I teach private wine classes to collectors or our restaurant guests and I am able to use only what is needed and preserve the wine. I am also able to offer many more flights and rare wine by the glass that I otherwise could not. It is a sign and good guarantee that the wine is fresh too because previously you weren’t confident when a bottle of rare wine had been opened.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
‘Seek out a great partner or mentor in business that you can learn from.’
It is one of the best pieces of advice I can give to a sommelier or entrepreneur. It is important that you always work for people who can teach you and who you respect. A partner will build you up when you need it and celebrate your success when you deserve it. This world is about collaboration and those that know this are usually the most successful.
Coravin Model Two, $350, coravin.com
