If you’re searching for a wine dispenser to improve how you serve wine—whether at home, in a restaurant, or behind a bar, you’re likely looking to solve one of three key problems: reducing waste, serving wine efficiently, and preserving taste.
And while traditional wine dispensing systems address these challenges to some degree, not every dispensing system is created equal—many (if not all) fall short when it comes to long-term preservation and flexibility.
Cue the more advanced, elegant solution: Coravin wine by-the-glass systems.
The Coravin Timeless+ Wine by-the-Glass System isn’t a traditional wine dispenser—it’s smarter.
It's a more flexible way to enjoy wine.
With our Timeless+ Series, you pour a glass without removing the cork, leaving the remaining wine completely unaffected. Wine always tastes like it has just been opened, even years later. So you can enjoy the perfect glass, anytime, without compromise.
Let’s explore how traditional dispensers compare to this innovative alternative.
What Is a Wine Dispenser?
A wine dispenser is a device that stores and serves wine in controlled portions, typically using pressurized gas to pour and preserve open bottles. These systems are common in restaurants, wine bars, and some high-end homes, often featuring temperature controls to help keep wine at optimal serving conditions.
They can help minimize wine spoilage, reduce heavy-handed pours, and allow businesses to offer a wider selection of wines by the glass to their customers.
But most of these systems require bottles to be opened and decanted into a storage unit, which immediately starts the clock on oxidation. Even with gas preservation, most dispensers keep wine fresh for just a few days to a couple of weeks.
Popular Wine Dispenser Examples
Whether for a high-end restaurant or a personal kitchen, wine dispensers come in a variety of models to suit different needs. Here are two widely recognized examples:
1. Enomatic (Commercial Use)
Enomatic is one of the most established names in the commercial wine dispenser space. Designed for professional hospitality environments, Enomatic systems offer multi-bottle capacity, precise portion control, and dual-zone temperature regulation. Used in wine bars and tasting rooms globally, Enomatic enables venues to serve premium wines while reducing waste—though it still requires the bottle to be opened, limiting preservation to a short window.
2. Plum Wine Dispenser (Home Use)
For at-home wine lovers, the Plum wine dispenser is a sleek, tech-forward solution that automatically identifies wine labels and stores bottles at the perfect temperature. It uses argon gas to preserve open bottles for up to 90 days. While convenient, Plum still requires opening the bottle, and its use is generally limited to two bottles at a time.
These systems help with presentation and portion control, but both rely on opening the wine bottle—unlike Coravin, which keeps wine sealed and preserved for months or years.
The Problems Wine Dispensers Try to Solve
Wine dispensers are popular because they aim to solve three key challenges:
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Preserving flavor after opening a bottle
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Controlling pour sizes to reduce waste
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Enhancing presentation and service
But even the best dispensers struggle with shelf-life. Once a bottle is opened, even in a sealed system, oxidation begins to affect taste. For wine programs that pride themselves on excellence, this creates a quality gap.
Meet Coravin: The Wine Dispenser Alternative
Coravin isn’t a wine dispenser — It’s a wine by-the-glass system that allows you (or your customers) to enjoy wine without ever opening the bottle. That’s a fundamental shift in how wine is served, and allows you to redefine how you enjoy wine at home.
Instead of transferring wine to another container, Coravin wine by-the-glass systems use a medical-grade needle to gently pass through the cork, extracting wine while replacing it with argon gas already used in the winemaking process. The cork naturally reseals, helping you store wine in its original bottle for weeks, months, or even 20+ years later—just as the winemaker intended.
No oxidation. No degradation. Just the same wine, tasting just as perfect as the first glass.
Why Coravin Outperforms Traditional Wine Dispensers
1. No Bottle Opening Required
Unlike dispensers, Coravin doesn’t require you to uncork the bottle. That means no air ever touches the wine, preserving its integrity, taste, and aroma for the long term.
2. Pour Only What You Need
Coravin lets you drink wine by-the-glass with complete precision, whether you want one ounce for tasting or five for a full pour.
Drink what you want, when you want.
3. Long-Term Wine Preservation
Most wine dispensers offer 1–2 weeks of preservation. With Coravin, wine can remain unchanged for months or even 20+ years, making it the only viable solution for premium or rare bottles you want to pour gradually.
4. A Better Experience for Guests & Customers
Whether you run a restaurant or host wine nights at home, Coravin delivers the kind of elevated experience wine lovers remember: variety without waste, and flawless wine served at its peak—every time. For support or questions, you can contact the Coravin Customer Service Team.
Coravin Timeless+ vs. Traditional Wine Dispensers: Feature Comparison
|
Feature / Benefit |
Traditional Wine Dispensers |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Preservation Duration |
20+ years after accessing |
Typically 7–14 days after opening |
|
Wine Bottle Integrity |
Cork stays in place; wine remains stored in original bottle |
Wine must be opened or decanted into a dispensing system |
|
Pour Precision |
Exact pour by the ounce, without pulling the cork |
Accurate pours to reduce waste, but bottle must be opened |
|
Temperature Control |
External storage (e.g. wine fridge) required; not integrated |
Many include single-zone or dual-zone temperature control |
|
Wine Freshness |
Maintains taste, aroma, and structure as if just opened |
Oxidation begins immediately; flavor degrades over time |
|
Service Speed |
Instant access to any bottle, no setup or transfer required |
Quick service once bottles are loaded into the system |
|
Premium Wine Access |
Enables by-the-glass pours of rare, vintage, and fine wines |
Supports premium wine service, but limited by spoilage window |
|
Customization for Guests |
Serve any wine, any time—ideal for flights and tastings |
Offers flexibility, but usually restricted to a small selection |
|
Program Impact |
Expands wine-by-the-glass offerings with no compromise on quality |
Increases sales but often requires waste-management strategies |
|
Design & Storage |
Sleek handheld system |
Larger countertop or built-in units with more visual impact |
Unlike traditional wine dispensers that rely on a fixed set of standard features—like basic gas preservation or volume control—Coravin reimagines the experience entirely, offering patented technology for precision pouring, and long-term preservation without ever removing the cork.
Common Use Cases—Now Better with Coravin
1. Restaurants and Wine Bars
Serve a wide selection of wines by-the-glass to customers, including fine and vintage bottles, without worrying about waste. With Coravin, there’s no need to limit your by-the-glass program to wines that will move quickly.
What Hospitality Leaders Say: Coravin Drives Sales and Guest Satisfaction
Wine-by-the-glass programs aren’t just about convenience—they’re powerful revenue drivers. For restaurants, wine bars, and hotel groups, switching from traditional wine dispensers to Coravin Timeless+ has unlocked measurable business benefits.
Here’s what real partners have shared in our latest B2B Case Study:
Our Impact in Numbers
What Industry Leaders Are Saying
Beyond the numbers, hear directly from beverage directors and sommeliers on how Coravin is transforming wine service:
Coravin for me is all about education and accessibility. The way it has changed the game for staff training and product knowledge, allowing myself and future wine professionals to educate ourselves, is incredible. Being able to offer an additional range of wines by-the-glass, including more premium wines, is in line with the market trend of guests seeking quality over quantity. With Coravin, it is possible to deliver elevated revenue from guests buying by-the-glass when they would otherwise be unwilling to spend on a full bottle.
Coravin has revolutionized the way restaurants approach wine service, allowing them to offer a broader selection of wines, reduce costs, and provide customers with fresher and more diverse wine experiences.
If we have an incredibly rare wine and someone can't commit to a $1,700 bottle, but would like a glass for $450, often the guest will enjoy 4 glasses, and before you and they know it, you're $100 over where they were mentally, and they’ve been able to enjoy several amazing wines.… Coravin allows us to be creative. We can personalize wine for guests, demonstrating genuine hospitality.
2. At-Home Entertaining
Transform the way you host at home. With Coravin wine by-the-glass systems, you no longer need to choose one bottle for everyone or worry about finishing multiple open bottles before they lose their freshness.
Whether it's a casual gathering or an intimate dinner, Coravin empowers you to offer your guests a personalized experience—pour any wine, anytime, and enjoy every glass with the confidence that what remains in the bottle is completely unaffected.
Your wine, your choice, your enjoyment – guilt-free individual indulgence, we don’t ask “what should WE have” we ask, “what do YOU want”
— Mike Lawton, 2024
From vibrant whites to bold reds, or even a glass of bubbles, Coravin gives you and your guests the freedom to explore without compromise. It’s not about opening bottles—it’s about unlocking experiences, one perfect glass at a time.
What About Spirits and Bourbon?
Some wine dispensers advertise dual use with spirits. While this may be convenient, it’s a different use case.
Coravin wine by-the-glass systems are purpose-built for wine—where oxidation control is essential to preserving aroma, structure, and flavor. While some other products claim dual use with spirits, Coravin is engineered with the precision wine demands.
Spirits are far less sensitive to oxidation, making traditional pour methods more than sufficient for those occasions. Coravin is for wine lovers who expect every glass to taste like the first—because with wine, every detail matters.
The Verdict: Why Coravin Is the Right Solution
If you're exploring options for serving wine, ask yourself: Do you want to simply pour wine—or do you want to drink and enjoy it on your terms, with zero waste and first-glass freshness every time?
Coravin goes beyond the benefits that traditional dispensers offer. It redefines how wine is experienced
✅ Pour without pulling the cork
✅ No oxygen exposure
✅ Wine always tastes like it has just been opened—even years later
✅ Precision control, every pour
✅ Sleek, sophisticated design for any space
For wine lovers, sommeliers, restaurateurs, and collectors alike—the Coravin range isn’t just a better option. It’s the only one that truly honors the wine, from first glass to last.
