Five years ago, Wired published the first ever review[1] of a little gizmo called the Coravin[2], a device that inserts a needle into a bottle of wine, letting you draw its contents without removing the cork—or spoiling the remaining liquid.
This oddball device has since become a worldwide phenomenon in the wine world. With four different models now available, the Coravin is prized by both collectors looking to see if that bottle of Masseto is ready for drinking and by high-end wine bars aiming to serve cult wines by the glass.
Today, Coravin finally enters the digital age. All versions of the device thus far have required a somewhat arcane series of manual steps in order to get it to work. A tab on the back of the unit dispenses argon into the wine, but the bottle has to be held at the right angle or else wine gasps and sputters out all over your bespoke suit while you're pouring. Recognizing when to press the tab and knowing the particular dance of dipping and raising the neck takes practice—my own experiences with Coravin-powered wine tastings have shown me that some people just never get the hang of it.
That all changes with the Coravin Model Eleven, which takes great strides to simplify the operation of the device by making key functions electronic and automatic.
The new Coravin retains the basic design premise of the original. While it lacks the original's spring-loaded arms that grip the wine bottle's neck, you still attach it to a bottle by manually pressing the svelte needle down through the capsule and cork, which engages the system. From there, a colored LED on top of the Coravin lights up, informing you that you're ready...