Wine Preservation - Wine Shield Success

Review by Emily Wines of Kimpton Hotels and Collin Casey from Baker and Banker

Emily Wines, Wine Director of Kimpton Hotels in the US and Collin Casey of Baker and Banker Restaurant in San Francisco reveals the importance of Wine Shield to their wine programs. Emily oversees the wine program in 45 restaurants across the US and recounts how Wine Shield has helped the bottom line by extending the life and integrity of their by-the-glass wines. Collin tested numerous products over the past 5 years and switched to Wine Shield from an argon gas system, "In my mind now, it's the only thing that works."

The Deanery

"We have 6-7 reds and the same number of whites by the glass. I like the Wine Shield because it’s a single use device – whereas you can’t see or smell the gas. It’s simple – it works – that’s what appeals to me. It becomes part of staff practice – you insert it at the end of a session – it can reduce waste to virtually zero. The customer explanation is simple – it’s a blanket over the wine that protects it. It’s biggest upside is with aromatic wines."

Watch Anthony Jones, Viticulturist/Founder of The Deanery, talking with Rilka Warbanoff about the benefits of Wine Shield:

Review by Harvey Steiman, Editor at Large, Wine Spectator

Until now, the best wine preservation techniques involve displacing the air inside the bottle with an inert odourless gas, such as nitrogen or argon. A new product looks like a workable solution – at least my experiments with it have proved successful. It’s called the Wine Shield. I tried the Wine Shield on three bottles – a Washington Riesling under cork, and an Oregon Pinot Noir and Australian Shiraz under twist-off caps. After 1 hour, I applied the disks and stoppered the bottles. Four days later, all the wines tasted exactly as I described in my original notes.

Review by Evan Goldstein, Court of Master Sommeliers

There’s a couple of devices out there that work. There’s a brand new one out there that I just started playing with that I would really recommend. I actually think it’s the best one out there.
It’s a product called Wine Shield, and it’s this little…. Little disk that’s essentially food grade plastic that comes in a little package, that… dare I say it, looks a little like a condom.
You open it up and just twist the thing in, and it floats down to the bottom and, sits like a little seal on the top of your wine and it’s actually better, believe it or not than the air preservation systems – whether it’s the sparging systems or the vacuum type systems – costs about 25c per unit, but it will lterally hold the wine brilliantly for about 4-5 days without any change whatsoever.
It’s the one I’m most high on right now.
You buy them in packets of 7-10, something like that. You can get them at some fine wine stores – and they have a website wineshield.com and they direct you to a retailer.
I highly advocate it. If it’s an expensive bottle of wine, it keeps it better, integrity-wise than anything I’ve worked with.

Evan Goldstein, on the Ron Owens Show with over 1 million listeners, Friday 17th September 2010.

Two Hands Wine

“I’ve trialled Wine Shield on many Rieslings, Pinot Noirs and Grenaches- varieties that traditionally oxidize very easily. I found I could keep bottles opened for 5 to 8 days without any loss of fruit purity or palate structure. I even tested Wine Shield over 45 days on a bottle of California Syrah and the wine barely budged over the journey. Before I was pouring many bottles out and that was a real waste. At Two Hands we are even using them in our tasting room in Burgundy, France and the results have been amazing. We have seen an immediate lift in sales as we are able to taste our Premier and Grand Cru wines on a regular basis, which was previously not possible. It’s a truly brilliant invention that adds value to every bottle you open.”

Michael Twelftree, Proprietor, Two Hands Wines

Aurum Wines, Central Otago, New Zealand

“Previously we used argon gas to sparge the wines at the end of the day, but this was impractical between visitors and consequently the wine spoiled in a couple of days. About 18 months ago we discovered Wine Shield and thought it was a brilliant idea. Since then we have used it in all our wines in our tasting room and have found the device very effective. We are now able to keep wines in good condition for up to 4 days, despite repeated opening and closing of the bottles.”.

The Henry Jones Art Hotel

"The Wine Shield is a simple and cost effective method for preserving wine, far superior to other products we have tried. My bar staff are amazed how long the wine remains fresh as the day it was opened! We've been using it since its release and are thrilled with its high quality and consistency."

General Manager, The Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart, Australia

Shannon Essa, Wine Representative, W.A.G. Southern California

"Wine Shield is perfect for the traveling wine drinker. The disks weigh nothing and take no space in one’s suitcase, yet that bottle of Rioja you opened to have a glass before dinner will be safe from the bathroom drain. I cannot imagine traveling anywhere without my supply of Wine Shields now that I have used them."

Jada Vineyards, Southern California

"We were skeptical at first so we decided to perform a test. We gathered up two bottles of our 2006 Mirror and proceed to perform the test. One bottle with the Shield and one without. And low and behold it really works. Pretty amazing! So we thought that it would be a great gift for our wine club members in their spring shipment. I am sure it was enjoyed by all!”

Flame Hill Vineyard

"I love the Wine Shield - we have tried everything…vacuum pumps etc… and these really do prolong the life of our wine…"

Sharon Hogan, Owner, Flame Hill Vineyard, Montville, Australia

K&L Wine Merchants, San Francisco

Wine Preserva has become one of the top selling accessories at K & L in the short time it has been available there. The initial order was received on April 29, 2009. I have put together a nice POS display and used word of mouth. We have re-ordered the product several times since then."

Fred Benorden, Sales, K&L Wine Merchants