Library Release - Wine Preservation: Tom Lutz, Repour

In this episode, Robert Vernick and Peter Yeung interview Tom Lutz, Founder & Creator of Repour Wine Savor, one of the leading new inventions in wine preservation technology. We discuss the technology, how people have learned about it, the differences between Coravin and Repour, and what the future holds.  Other topics covered in this episode include:Tom is a chemist by trade (he worked in biodiesel and aquarium products)Repour was invented when he had a newborn son and ended up pouring half bottles of wine down the drainTechnology: It uses food-grade oxygen absorbersBinds the oxygen, of which the atmosphere has 21%, does not replace itIt requires air to exchange and remove the oxygen, so the bottle needs to be stored verticallyThe capacity of the stopperBuilt for 5 pours of one bottle, glass by glass - this would expose the wine to 1,500 ml of airThe max amount a stopper has to handle is 2,000 ml of airUses recyclable materials. However, many municipal grids have 3”x3” grids that filter out small objects; for large customers, they do take back repours to recyclePricingConsumer: 4-pack ($8.99 / $2.25 each), 10-pack ($17.99 / $1.80 each), 72-pack ($120 / $1.67 each)There are often promotions via the email listA future target price point is $1/stopper or lowerTrade: 4x72-pack (288 stoppers) - starts at $0.83 / stopperCustomers Started with on-premise (restaurants)With COVID - moved more consumersWineries - have been using them for virtual tastings and wine club gifts, also several doing custom brandingCoravin vs. Repour - both work; Coravin is better for tasting and cellaring wine; Repour is for enjoying wine like you usually would and saving itMarketing Mostly word of mouthAfter 1 year of testing the science, started with a local somm group that did a blind tasting and Repour worked greatTEXSOM - gave out samples and many conversations have come back to that eventDuration of effectiveness - weeks or months; Repour has tested out to 6-7 monthsThe future - potentially replaceable inserts, sparkling wine, and the possibly showing how much oxygen absorbing capacity is leftIf you loved this episode, we would love for you to subscribe, rate, and review it on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, cheers! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.