Wine appreciation can often seem like a daunting and intimidating realm for many of us who appreciate good food and good drink. With so many varieties, attactive packaging and labeling along with the uncertainty of knowing whether a bottle beholds something you would want to indulge in for days on end or whether it is something you would rather recork and forget you ever let touch your palette, it is difficult to know where to begin. Fortunately, most vineyards offer tastings, local wine shops do the same, and you can even contact a
sommelier to come to your home or private event to give you a tutorial. You need not have much knowledge ahead of time when it comes to wine because there are many books and resources available to help you increase your wine education which can quickly become a great avocation. The wonderful part about drinking wine is that you can trust your senses to lead you down the right path. The key is to know what you like and to give yourself time to explore other offerings with the understanding that with so much product on the market you can go from wine to infinity in a lifetime and never drink the same wine twice. There are a number of accessories on the market that go beyond corkscrews, wine totes and wine racks to help you to maximize your wine experience. I recently tested the
Vinturi line of aerators for both red and white wines. Most of us know that decanting is a critical step in aerating red wines. For the true wine geeks, Vinturi has taken scientific principles including
Bernoulli's principle which states that as the speed of a moving liquid increases, the pressure within that liquid decreases, a concept dictated by the law of conservation of energy. With the Vinturi red wine aerator, one can increase the velocity of the wine while decreasing the pressure allowing the air to effectively mix with the wine to provide perfect aeration with each pour. The device is simple to use, simply by holding it over the glass and pouring the wine through the top of the unit (those who are especially clumsy may need assistance) the wine will travel through the aerator into your glass.
Do not be alarmed when you hear the gurgle of the air mixing with the wine as you pour. We tested the aerator on a merlot and a cabernet sauvignon and the difference in flavor is quite noticable between the original wine and the wine used with the aerator resulting in a much improved upon flavor that brightens the tannens and produces a better mouth feel which in both cases was much smoother. The aerator can make a $10 bottle of wine taste like a $25 bottle of wine easily which is great for those of us with champagne tastes on beer budgets. The red wine unit also includes a filter screen which captures cork and sediment, while preventing clogging and overflow. In addition, Vinturi has also developed an aerator specifically for use with white wines. This model looks similar at first glance, however, the units are not interchangable. The white wine unit does not include the filtration screen, and the unit has been adjusted to produce different flow rates for the white wines to enhance their flavors. Upon testing on a chardonnay and a sauvignon blanc, the difference is flavor is less marked than that for the red wine, but improved nonetheless. Both aerators nest in their own cradle and come with a convenient carrying case. The units are dishwasher safe as well. Each aerator sells for US $39.95 and is available for purchase through the Vinturi website and at retailers including Sur La Table, World Market and at many smaller wine shops. Subscribe to our blog to hear about more wine accessories or e-mail us at
cooklikejackie@gmail.com. Product samples were received and tested for use with this post.
Wine appreciation can often seem like a daunting and intimidating realm for many of us who appreciate good food and good drink. With so many varieties, attactive packaging and labeling along with the uncertainty of knowing whether a bottle beholds something you would want to indulge in for days on end or whether it is something you would rather recork and forget you ever let touch your palette, it is difficult to know where to begin. Fortunately, most vineyards offer tastings, local wine shops do the same, and you can even contact a sommelier to come to your home or private event to give you a tutorial. You need not have much knowledge ahead of time when it comes to wine because there are many books and resources available to help you increase your wine education which can quickly become a great avocation. The wonderful part about drinking wine is that you can trust your senses to lead you down the right path. The key is to know what you like and to give yourself time to explore other offerings with the understanding that with so much product on the market you can go from wine to infinity in a lifetime and never drink the same wine twice. There are a number of accessories on the market that go beyond corkscrews, wine totes and wine racks to help you to maximize your wine experience. I recently tested the Vinturi line of aerators for both red and white wines. Most of us know that decanting is a critical step in aerating red wines. For the true wine geeks, Vinturi has taken scientific principles including Bernoulli's principle which states that as the speed of a moving liquid increases, the pressure within that liquid decreases, a concept dictated by the law of conservation of energy. With the Vinturi red wine aerator, one can increase the velocity of the wine while decreasing the pressure allowing the air to effectively mix with the wine to provide perfect aeration with each pour. The device is simple to use, simply by holding it over the glass and pouring the wine through the top of the unit (those who are especially clumsy may need assistance) the wine will travel through the aerator into your glass. 
Do not be alarmed when you hear the gurgle of the air mixing with the wine as you pour. We tested the aerator on a merlot and a cabernet sauvignon and the difference in flavor is quite noticable between the original wine and the wine used with the aerator resulting in a much improved upon flavor that brightens the tannens and produces a better mouth feel which in both cases was much smoother. The aerator can make a $10 bottle of wine taste like a $25 bottle of wine easily which is great for those of us with champagne tastes on beer budgets. The red wine unit also includes a filter screen which captures cork and sediment, while preventing clogging and overflow. In addition, Vinturi has also developed an aerator specifically for use with white wines. This model looks similar at first glance, however, the units are not interchangable. The white wine unit does not include the filtration screen, and the unit has been adjusted to produce different flow rates for the white wines to enhance their flavors. Upon testing on a chardonnay and a sauvignon blanc, the difference is flavor is less marked than that for the red wine, but improved nonetheless. Both aerators nest in their own cradle and come with a convenient carrying case. The units are dishwasher safe as well. Each aerator sells for US $39.95 and is available for purchase through the Vinturi website and at retailers including Sur La Table, World Market and at many smaller wine shops. Subscribe to our blog to hear about more wine accessories or e-mail us at cooklikejackie@gmail.com. Product samples were received and tested for use with this post.
