A Sparkling Affair

What good is Prosecco without bubbles?

Now, granted, if you drink the whole bottle at one sitting, there’s no need to worry about preserving the bubbles in this light, aromatic Italian sparkling wine.

But today, the hippest sips in cocktail land – such as the Sparkling Mojito, the Aperol Spritz and, at Seattle’s Licorous, the “Lark” with pink grapefruit juice, Campari and Prosecco -- are all made with just an ounce or two of Prosecco. That means that the home bartender may keep an open bottle of bubbly in the fridge for a couple days.

Presorvac to the rescue.

Two years ago I rejoiced over the advent of the Epicurean Preservation System, a contraption that  extracted the air from a partially empty bottle of wine with a simple press of a button. (Earlier “vacuum” systems, such as the Vacu Vin, required animated pumping to extract the air in the bottle.)  The Epicurean sold for about $80, but, I reasoned, it saved crumbling, baby-boomer arms and shoulders for the tennis and golf games of the future.

Well, the Epicurean now has a new name, the Presorvac, and an important new feature that allows it to preserve Champagne and other sparkling wines.

With the flip of a lever, the pump can either remove the air from a bottle of still wine or add pressure to a bottle of sparkling wine. Simply plug in the re-usable cork/cap and press a button. The Presorvac preserves the optimal taste, aroma and color of wine for days. It is said to maintain wine for up to two weeks, but I can’t attest to that since no open bottle of wine has ever lived that long at my house.

The Presorvac is rechargeable. I find that a fully charged pump works for months and takes up minimal space on the counter.

The Presorvac package includes pump, plug-in recharging station, assorted caps and corks for both still and sparkling wines. It costs about $120 at Amazon.com.

Expensive, yes. But just think about that shimmering mix of Prosecco and fresh orange juice, Prosecco and Port, Prosecco, simple syrup and shiso, Prosecco and bourbon, Prosecco and lemonade, Prosecco and pomegranate....