Wine Doctor (Preserver) Review
[slideshow]
THE PRODUCT: The Wine Doctor
HOW IT’S DIFFERENT: Rather than just blindly pumping and hoping your wine is all set to sit for a few days, this product has a red indicator in the stopper that signals whether or not air is in the bottle. This way, you can’t overpump, and you know if air has leaked back into the bottle, which means it’s time to re-pump (or enjoy immediately).
HOW I TESTED: Using 3 bottles of of the same wine, I poured equal amounts from each bottle and sealed them up for 2 days:
Bottle 1: Argon gas preserver (my top-performing preservation technique; the benchmark)
Bottle 2: Sealed with The Wine Doctor and monitored for air leakage; pumped when red indicator was visible
Bottle 3: Sealed with The Wine Doctor, but not re-pumped when red indicator became visible.
RESULTS: After 2 days I tasted from all 3 bottles. Here’s how they held up.
Bottle 1: Perfect
Bottle 2: Perfect
Bottle 3: Less than Perfect
WHY IT’S COOL: For a bit of background, I have conducted numerous preservation tests. My lifestyle prohibits me from opening and drinking a full bottle every night (I’m the only wino in my family, with a new an active baby). Therefore, it’s been absolutely necessary to find a better solution than opening a bottle only to dump it the next day due to oxidation. The problem with most vacuum pumps, is that there is no way to know if the seal is leaking or not. With The Wine Doctor, that problem is truly solved. As long as you keep an eye on your bottle and re-pump when the red indicator shows, your bottle and its flavor should be safe and sound! I think this is a great preserver, especially for those weary of the argon gas method.
