Instructions for use:

The Clef du Vin is dipped repeatedly into a glass of wine.
In a 10 cl* glass, one second of contact modifies the tannin structure, as well as the organoleptic qualities (taste and aroma), by the equivalent of one year of laying down time in a wine cellar.
Begin by pouring a glass of wine (10 cl.). Taste and memorise.
Dip the Clef du Vin disk into the glass for one second, taste again and compare.
Repeat the operation until the wine deteriorates.
Attention! This process is very fast. Be aware!
*For the model for "Bottle", use a bottle of 75cl.

Which wine to buy? How to select a wine?
If after several dips (or a continuous dip of a few seconds), the wine remains pleasant or improves, you can buy with confidence, it will age well.
If the wine deteriorates after one or two seconds of contact, the wine has little or no ageing potential, and should be drunk within a year or two.
The Clef du Vin reassures you in your selection and purchase of wines.

When should I drink this wine? How long should I lay it down for?
If you prefer the wine after dipping Clef du Vin in for 3 seconds, you may lay it down for three years, then you will most probably appreciate the wine at its peak (according to your personal taste, of course).
There is no absolute rule; everyone should drink wine the way they like it, when they like it, neither too soon, nor too late!

How to taste and appreciate a young wine?

With the Clef du Vin you will be able to appreciate the real potential of an immature wine, in a matter of seconds.
Clef du Vin speeds up the aromatic development of the wine’s flavours and softens its structure. You could say that the wine is “opened up” with the key.

- Red wines will see their tannins becoming softer, and their roundness being expressed.
- The acidity of dry white wines will be reduced, revealing the subtle flavours of the fruit.
- With sweet white wines expect an explosion of flavours in your mouth!

The Clef du Vin allows you to enjoy today the full potential of a wine needing to be laid down, which otherwise would have needed years to mature.


Care and cleaning: Simply rinse with warm water and dry with a cloth.
Do not place Clef du Vin in the dish washer, as this could damage it!

A CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY

The Clef du Vin is an alloy made up of many different metals, which have been prepared and produced using a special technique.
It is the outcome of scientific study combined with accepted traditions and methods in the wine industry.
The Clef du Vin was invented over 10 years ago by Laurent Zanon, chemist and oenologist, chemistry and biology teacher, in collaboration with a sommelier, Franck Thomas, Best Craftsman of France, Best Sommelier of France and Europe (year 2000) and French candidate for the next world championships in Greece (which takes place every 4 years).
As a winemaker, Laurent Zanon needed an instrument to help him decide when is the right moment to do whatever he needs to do during the wine making process.

"Now I use the key as follows, Mr Zanon says :
If the wine in the vats is in “reduction” (closed smells of sulphur, marzipan, or even rotten eggs) I fill a 10 cl glass and dip the Clef du Vin in for 2 seconds. If the reduction persists, I need to intervene (rack the wine …). If not, I can wait."

We have created a tool, which is user-friendly and accessible to everyone.

During its life cycle, the wine passes from a phase of reduction (fermentation process in vats or casks) to a phase of oxidation (wine which is too old to be drunk). Between these two phases, the wine will evolve along its curve of oxidation-reduction, going through periods of equilibrium when it can be appreciated at its best (depending also on personal taste).

What happens when the wine ages in bottle under favourable conditions?

The wine will be oxidising during its evolution, and some do it faster than others. Moreover this phenomenon is increased after the bottle has been opened. This will considerably change the wine’s quality for better or for worse.
By using the Clef du Vin you will be able to accelerate maturing in order to work out the laying down potential, knowing that one second of contact is equivalent to one year of “ageing” (of oxidation-reduction).

Of course, the Clef du Vin has not invented reduction by oxidation! Mankind have known about this natural process for over 2000 years. But on the other hand, the team of Clef du Vin have mastered how to measure it, gauge it and reproduce it in a controlled and regulated way.

In order to bring out the ageing potential of a wine, the Clef du Vin gradually modifies amongst other things the balance in oxidation-reduction up to its destruction (taste). Each second of contact in a 10 cl glass (or 75 cl bottle with the corresponding wine key model) will advance the wine one year on its oxidation-reduction curve (life), showing its laying down potential or ageing potential.

It will show you the pleasure that you will have drinking the wine in 1, 2,…5,…10 years.

Oxydarion-Reduction Curve

10cl - 1 seconde - 1 year

One second for one year, two seconds for two years… The result obtained with the Clef du Vin is irreversible. The successive dips (contacts with the wine) are cumulative (one second plus one second = one dip of two seconds). The Clef du Vin is a catalyst that activates and accelerates a natural phenomenon: oxidation.

But be careful! The Clef du Vin does not age the wine.

There are many more things happening during the natural ageing of a wine that the Clef du Vin does not claim to reproduce (there are more than 100 components known in wine, which are related to wine aging).
The Clef du Vin also acts on the aromatic components: the esters, ketones, aldehydes and on the tannins.
The aromatic components are “protected”, “inhibited” by sulphured components (atoms of sulphur “S”), very sensible to oxidation.
The Clef du Vin acts in a similar way on the aliphatic chains by modifying the simple connections of carbon, sulphur and hydrogen.

Three years of research went into the creation of the Clef du Vin alloy. Then seven years were spent validating the right calibration of one second to one year. The inventors started by buying a batch of bottles. Then professional sommeliers met together every year organising blind tastings (duo-trios, triangles…). The objective was to compare the actual results with the Clef du Vin’s predictions. More than 95% of the time, the Clef du Vin proved to be correct!!!

Patents were applied for from 2000.

The Clef du Vin does not wear out. Everything happens on the molecular level. There is no migration of metal to the wine. The Key simply reorganises certain of the wine’s molecules. Nothing is lost, nothing is created, but everything is transformed…

What does the alloy contain? The answer forms the basis of four international patents.