EZ Pump Vacuum Wine Saver 3-Pack
$14.99 $̶2̶9̶.̶7̶0̶ 50% off List Price

Anyone have any experience with this?

Wondering in particular how it would work with sparkling wine.

I went looking on reviews on Amazon for this "EZ Pump Vacuum" and came up with an "Ez-Load" product that appears to serve a different purpose.

smartheart wrote:Anyone have any experience with this?

Wondering in particular how it would work with sparkling wine.

It WON'T work with carbonated wine. At least, not until the wine is flat.

When you pull a vacuum on a carbonated beverage, the c02 will boil out, rendering the vacuum moot.

However, you would get the oxygen out of the headspace, if you were able to re-seal the bottle.

steve

I used this with my bottle of Winter's Hill the other night. It does what it's supposed to do, and the colours on offer are much nicer than the fluorescent pink one we have. That means it'll do a better job too, right?

they need a reverse version to pressurize a 2 liter soda bottle. now that i would buy.

no way i'm not finishing an entire bottle of wine once i open it anyway.

Pinot pumps? That's not what I was looking for.

I used this on my Three Wine Men. It is a neat gadget! Simple to use. It seems to have done the job it is supposed to do.. These would make great gifts.

I have one of these things. Like Klezman, mine is a different color (mine is the standard silver), but it’s the same basic item.

I’ve had it for a little while, but not long enough to judge how well it will hold up to long-term use. I’ve collected a few of these wine-saver gizmos, since bottles generally get stretched for two, often three, and occasionally four days around here. After the second day preservation is more important than development, so I try to use something that gets a decent vacuum and thus actually saves the wine. I have the basic stoppers, like the one that was included in a Woot wine tool offering a few years back, and also a Vacu-Vin thing that I find to be pretty useless, and one other that I can’t remember the name of but isn’t worth remembering anyway. This is the stopper I use most often nowadays, because when I pop it off on the third day it’s obvious that it actually did its job – I can hear it. Whether that sound is really A Sign Of Good Things Happening, or just A Sound I Like To Hear Because It Makes Me Think That Good Things Happened, I’m not really sure. Given my brain capacity, maybe it’s the latter. But, snarkiness aside, I do use it, and it hasn’t done anything to make me curse or throw it against the wall. For $5, that’s all I ask.

The one downside to this is that it does add a decent bit of height to the bottle. If you’re putting a partially-used bottle into a place that can barely fit a standard bottle height, then it might not work out for you. My fridge can handle it though, so it’s not a big deal for me. And I haven’t tried it out with any odd-shaped bottle openings, such as the ones WineSmith likes so much (refer back to the Faux Chablis discussion for that one). (Insert time gap here) I just laid the bottle I have in the fridge on its side while I showered to see if it would leak, and it didn’t. And I’m glad, ‘cause it was a bottle of Woot Cellars ‘Twas and I didn’t want to lose any of it.

So, if you’re pining for a vacuum wine saver thingie, this is a decent one. None of the wine savers out there are exactly NASA-level technology unless you pay a whole lot, but this is a good basic-level item. If it only lasts for a year, it will have done its job as far as I’m concerned. And you get three, so that means three years - win-win-win.

If you need one of these, you're not enjoying your wine properly

Probably just as well to just stick the cork back in and maybe throw it in the fridge rather than use any vacuum type device. Or keep some 1/2 bottles on hand to throw leftovers in. Especially for just a day or two, after that most likely won't matter anyway.

Oh, and today being 3/14, thought we'd see a deal on Cherry Pie Pinot Noir.

I just got one of these to sample the other day. I have relied on a vacu-vin for awhile and this uses the same concept so I was eager to try it out.

It seems to do the exact same thing as the vacu-vin (uses reverse pump action to suck the air out of the bottle) with two key differences; first, it's a one-piece self-contained unit instead of a pump with individual caps. Second, it's bulkier than using the vacu-vin caps which could potentially be a problem if storage space is tight (although the ability to safely lay the sealed bottle on its side helps).

All in all, it seems like a viable alternative to other similar wine saver systems. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't already have a similar device, or anyone who just likes to collect useful wine gadgets (like me!) or anyone who's looking for an inexpensive wine-related gift.

coynedj wrote:and also a Vacu-Vin thing that I find to be pretty useless,

I've been using my Vacu-Vin for years and would not do without it. It works great as long as you learn how to pump appropriately (less wine in bottle means more pumping). The caps keep their seal for a LONG time, much longer than the wine will last (yes, I accidentally let some go too long). It will reasonably keep a red in good shape for 4-5 days at room temp, and a white kept in the fridge will stay great for weeks. I've even successfully used it on sparkling wines without any loss of bubbles or other issues.

I have a Houdini Wine Saver that I really don't think works too well. The two piece pump and stopper doesn't always seal the way it should.

I'm contemplating picking these up, because I would assume that a one piece would have a better seal and less chance to "unseal" as the others.

Anyone else have experience with both of these?

fuzi719 wrote:I've been using my Vacu-Vin for years and would not do without it. It works great as long as you learn how to pump appropriately (less wine in bottle means more pumping). The caps keep their seal for a LONG time, much longer than the wine will last (yes, I accidentally let some go too long). It will reasonably keep a red in good shape for 4-5 days at room temp, and a white kept in the fridge will stay great for weeks. I've even successfully used it on sparkling wines without any loss of bubbles or other issues.

Agreed on the vacu vin. During the week, I like to partake but rarely finish a bottle in a night - my wife usually waits until the weekend to join in. Many times, I'll have a white and red open and store both in the fridge with the vacu vin all week, if needed, with no issues. Just have to take the reds out for a bit prior to drinking to warm back to the desired temp. Bubbles have worked fine for me as well. SWMBO is a big sparkling wine fan and I've had no issues sealing her bottles with the vacu vin for multiple days, though it starts to lose it after about day 3.

I imagine that this product works in a similar way. If I did not already have a vacu vin and tons of caps, I would jump on it at this price considering the earlier reviews from those that have used it.

woottoady wrote:If you need one of these, you're not enjoying your wine properly

Unfortunately, I can no longer go through an entire bottle in a night as I used to. I was just thinking the other day I needed a storage gadget, so I'll go in on these.

Is having leftover wine a problem for some people? Not in my household.

Got the silver one, not pictured, and it does look nice.

Short story, better yet, it does reduce atmospheric pressure within the bottle and didn't seem to leak as with other "vacuum stoppers" where you would stopper a bottle and use a pump thingie to suck out some air and by the next morning it had leaked right back in.
Not so with this device!

I did a quick empirical test and plugged up the bottom of the stopper. As you depress the pump top you can hear and feel evidence of air being removed. Just a couple pumps and the 18mm (just under 3/4") cap remained at only 6mm (~1/4") protrusion. This gave me a baseline of what to expect for a longer test.

Half filling a 750 with room temp water, it took about 75 pumps before I was convinced the pump was no longer removing any additional air from within the bottle; I went to 100 just to make sure and then measured the plunger height at 6mm, just slightly higher than the 5.7 I could achieve with the bottom sealed off. Eight hours later, this morning, a second measurement was unable to detect any movement, suggesting either no or if any, only a very small leak. Removing the pump resulted in a very satisfying thunk.

I'll try to get some hard numbers on just how good a partial pressure this produces while in the lab today and report back...

This appears well made; I can't verify ABS plastic, but the innards certainly appear to be quality silicon and bear Patent No. 200810026155.7 around the circumference. A search suggested this is owned by 魏宏华 and issued Aug, 5 2009.

Overall 1.80" diameter x 2.80" high (unpumped) it adds 2-1/8" (unpumped) to the height of a bottle, but full pumping will reduce that by 1/2".

You mean I don't have to drink the whole bottle? There goes Friday and Saturday night!

This appears to be just a simple push-button top, right? So a question for those who have the Vacu-Vin or similar devices (which I have, and needs replacing due to age)-
How does this device suck out enough air without a pump? Is the button pushed a number of times before it's completely sealed? I guess I'm confused as to how this does an adequate job of removing the air as compared to similar devices which mechanically remove a greater volume of air through a pump system, versus this (albeit more simple) pump-less system.

(and yes, I realize this post is a field day for those taking things out of context!)

Giving it a go...you never know someday we might have some left over wine!

rjquillin wrote:Got the silver one, not pictured, and it does look nice.

Short story, better yet, it does reduce atmospheric pressure within the bottle and didn't seem to leak as with other "vacuum stoppers" where you would stopper a bottle and use a pump thingie to suck out some air and by the next morning it had leaked right back in.
Not so with this device!

I did a quick empirical test and plugged up the bottom of the stopper. As you depress the pump top you can hear and feel evidence of air being removed. Just a couple pumps and the 18mm (just under 3/4") cap remained at only 6mm (~1/4") protrusion. This gave me a baseline of what to expect for a longer test.

Half filling a 750 with room temp water, it took about 75 pumps before I was convinced the pump was no longer removing any additional air from within the bottle; I went to 100 just to make sure and then measured the plunger height at 6mm, just slightly higher than the 5.7 I could achieve with the bottom sealed off. Eight hours later, this morning, a second measurement was unable to detect any movement, suggesting either no or if any, only a very small leak. Removing the pump resulted in a very satisfying thunk.

I'll try to get some hard numbers on just how good a partial pressure this produces while in the lab today and report back...

This appears well made; I can't verify ABS plastic, but the innards certainly appear to be quality silicon and bear Patent No. 200810026155.7 around the circumference. A search suggested this is owned by 魏宏华 and issued Aug, 5 2009.

Overall 1.80" diameter x 2.80" high (unpumped) it adds 2-1/8" (unpumped) to the height of a bottle, but full pumping will reduce that by 1/2".

I love this answer. I work with engineers on a daily basis, and this sold me on it. Thanks for the info!

rjquillin wrote:Got the silver one, not pictured, and it does look nice.

Short story, better yet, it does reduce atmospheric pressure within the bottle and didn't seem to leak as with other "vacuum stoppers" where you would stopper a bottle and use a pump thingie to suck out some air and by the next morning it had leaked right back in.
Not so with this device!

I did a quick empirical test and plugged up the bottom of the stopper. As you depress the pump top you can hear and feel evidence of air being removed. Just a couple pumps and the 18mm (just under 3/4") cap remained at only 6mm (~1/4") protrusion. This gave me a baseline of what to expect for a longer test.

Half filling a 750 with room temp water, it took about 75 pumps before I was convinced the pump was no longer removing any additional air from within the bottle; I went to 100 just to make sure and then measured the plunger height at 6mm, just slightly higher than the 5.7 I could achieve with the bottom sealed off. Eight hours later, this morning, a second measurement was unable to detect any movement, suggesting either no or if any, only a very small leak. Removing the pump resulted in a very satisfying thunk.

I'll try to get some hard numbers on just how good a partial pressure this produces while in the lab today and report back...

This appears well made; I can't verify ABS plastic, but the innards certainly appear to be quality silicon and bear Patent No. 200810026155.7 around the circumference. A search suggested this is owned by 魏宏华 and issued Aug, 5 2009.

Overall 1.80" diameter x 2.80" high (unpumped) it adds 2-1/8" (unpumped) to the height of a bottle, but full pumping will reduce that by 1/2".

[edit]
Also thought you all may like some photos of the business end of this gizmo, now, off to see if I can actually measure what it does.

fuzi719 wrote:I've been using my Vacu-Vin for years and would not do without it. It works great as long as you learn how to pump appropriately (less wine in bottle means more pumping). The caps keep their seal for a LONG time, much longer than the wine will last (yes, I accidentally let some go too long). It will reasonably keep a red in good shape for 4-5 days at room temp, and a white kept in the fridge will stay great for weeks. I've even successfully used it on sparkling wines without any loss of bubbles or other issues.

It might well be that mine is just too old, and the caps need replacement. I've had it for quite a while, being an old dude.

kylecountryman wrote:I love this answer. I work with engineers on a daily basis, and this sold me on it. Thanks for the info!

+1, don't even need it but he is talking my language, LOL

Great review, looking forward to the lab data...

tarabellawine wrote:Giving it a go...you never know someday we might have some left over wine!

It was this post that sold me!

tdedek wrote:

Great review, looking forward to the lab data...

Me too! I'm quite curious on the lab results.

I have to agree with others here; what is this "left-over wine" of which you speak??

Will these fit the wider necks of 1.5L screw tops?

Neil, if you're around, you should check your PMs and stuff.

tdedek wrote:+1, don't even need it but he is talking my language, LOL

Great review, looking forward to the lab data...

Hey, mods, I want the old "lab rat" header for this one!

And, as promised, lab data, of sorts.

Best I could come up with was an older Granville Phillips 275 Convectron Gauge and sensor lashed into a cobbled together adapter to the wine thingie, both pictured below:

The Granville measures in Torr (equal to in-Hg) and there are ~760 of them at Standard Sea Level so we'll have some conversions for this to make any sense later. For reference, I'm all of a couple hundred feet above SL.

So after connecting this I did a few pumps and it sounded just like on the bottle, and after 20 or so had pretty much maxed out in sound and feel as it did with ~75 on the half full bottle.

Great, time to plug it in. And it worked!

The hard numbers; this reduced the absolute pressure from 760 Torr to just over 500 Torr or ~67% of a Standard Atmosphere. Understand, this does not create a vacuum in the bottle, but it does remove about 1/3 of the air within the bottle.
Reflecting on this a bit more, and to make these numbers make a bit more sense, we hear of Sea Level Barometric Pressure on a weather report all the time, normal is 29.92 in-Hg or about 14.69 psi. The 500 Torr equates to 19.68 in-Hg or about 9.67 psi. So this pump reduces the pressure within the bottle by about -5 psi.

Converting this pressure to a pressure altitude (this makes sense to pilots) puts you around 3390 Meters or 11,132 feet and would place the bottle on the top of Telescope Peak in Death Valley CA.


I can draw no conclusion as to how this may or may not help preserve wine overnight or longer. Personally, I use a tank of Argon and keep bottles for weeks with little or no discernible, to me, change. I can and will state this is far superior to a number of other "vacuum pumps" I've had over the years that did little or nothing, as the following day there was no 'pop' when the stopper was pulled. This one seemed to stay very well sealed and 'pumped down'.

If you subscribe to the vacuum thing to help preserve your partial bottles, this should nicely do the trick at a very attractive price.

bhodilee wrote:Neil, if you're around, you should check your PMs and stuff.

It seems he's a bit occupied at the moment...

neilfindswine wrote:...it's hard work sipping wine all day. The carpal-tunnel of the lips can be painful...

smartheart wrote:Anyone have any experience with this?

Wondering in particular how it would work with sparkling wine.

If you want something for bubbly I recommend the Le Creuset sealer...I have one and it works amazing! Will never pop off like some of the cheaper ones. It is expensive but if you are drinking bubbly enough to need one of these money should be the least of your problems

http://www.amazon.com/Le-Creuset-Champagne-Sealer-Nickel/dp/B005GUA798/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363287341&sr=8-3&keywords=champagne+sealer

rjquillin wrote:

And, as promised, lab data, of sorts.

You have gone far beyond the call of duty. I don't think I've seen anything else on woot to date that has had this much data behind it.

You are a gentleman, and a scholar.

rjquillin wrote:Hey, mods, I want the old "lab rat" header for this one!

And, as promised, lab data, of sorts.

This is without a doubt the most brilliant review I have ever seen.