Using wine-preservation systems to serve wine at its best

Offering your customers a large selection of wines by the glass is fantastic, but you need to ensure that every glass of wine served is fresh. Remember that once a bottle of wine is open, it will only remain fresh for a day or two because the oxygen in the air will begin to react with the constituents of the wine. This "oxidation" will cause wine to lose its fruit flavour within 12 to 48 hours, then take on sherry-like characteristics and eventually turn the wine to vinegar.

Wine preservation systems mean the rate of oxidation can be reduced and the life of a wine can be extended quite considerably. They work by removing the air and, therefore the oxygen from the bottle, so slowing down the oxidation process. Any wine preservation system must be used as part of every transaction and not just at the end of service.

The number of bottles involved will vary, but you should be confident in your system. If you are unsure of how quickly your wines sell, mark the opening date on the label. There are four methods of wine preservation currently available on the market, the following two of which are designed specifically for commercial use.

l Le Verre de Vin (an anglicised attempt at the French for "the glass of wine") is the only wine preservation system that preserves both still and sparkling wine and can maintain the quality of the wine for up to 21 days. When used to preserve still wine, the system removes the air and leaves a precisely-controlled vacuum within the bottle. It's easy to operate ­ a rubber stopper is simply placed in the top of the bottle.

l Cruvinet is a temperature-controlled cabinet that acts as a wine storage, preservation and dispense system. One side of the cabinet is chilled and the other side is set at room temperature. However, because of the capital outlay needed, it is only suitable for outlets offering a selection of fine wines with prices of around £10 a glass, which excludes most pubs.