New 'Wine Access System' Helps Conserve Opened Bottles

Looking to decant your serving of wine but keep the rest of the bottle fresh and uncontaminated? Willing to spend $300? You're in luck!

Greg Lambrecht, an MIT-trained nuclear engineer and founder of Intrinsic Orthopedics Inc., has developed the Coravin Wine Access System set to hit shelves today for $300 per device, according to The Boston Globe. Lambrecht, a wine collector with about 1,500 bottles in his cellar, came up with the idea when his pregnant wife wasn't sharing a bottle with him. Not wanting the wine to go to waste, he figured out a way to seal the bottle back up without allowing oxygen to enter.

Instead of a screw, the system built of stainless steel and aluminum has a Teflon-coated needle to pierce a wine bottle's cork. The device also contains a small canister of compressed argon, a gas that won't affect the flavor of wine. With the press of a button, argon is injected into the bottle, pressurizing it, and the needle spears the cork. When the bottle is tipped, the wine comes through the needle and out a nozzle. The excess pressure is released when the bottle is put down. No oxygen enters the bottle, therefore the wine can't deteriorate. When the needle is removed, the cork seals itself.

Lambrecht hopes to put a less expensive Coravin model on the market next year; each argon cartridge costs $9.95 and will provide enough gas for 15 glasses of wine.The system has been tested at restaurants in New York City and San Francisco.