Ok so you have a few bottles in your collection. Maybe you put a few bottles aside for that special occasion when company comes over. You find yourself in front of your local wine store looking at some of the accessories for wine but are confused at what does what. This article is for you to try to help explain some of the items you might want to add to your collection. Names like aerators, decanters, and other oddly shaped tools can be a little intimidating, especially if you have no clue what they do. Let’s start with why we might need them.
Aerators are very cool and I kind of look at them as helpers. They help the wine breath by displacing the wine and allowing oxygen to the mix. They make very significant changes that are very noticeable. If you ever see someone twirling their wine in their glass, it is because they are trying to aerate it to bring out the flavors and aromas.
Aerators are designed in a way similar to carburetors which mix oxygen and fuel. They have a wide tube that narrows at one end and they work faster than decanters.
Decanters are made of glass, ceramic or metals like gold, copper, silver, etc. and are used to aerate the wine as well. They do this because of the way they are shaped which allows for a big surface area in the vessel to which the wine can breathe. Most can hold about one bottle and besides aerating the wine they also have a nice look to them that add a certain aesthetic to parties and even your wine collection. Decanters are different from amphoras which were big jugs that wine was stored in. Usually with handles on both sides and often wine was poured from amphoras into decanters which were smaller and easier to handle. Another benefit of this method was that they were able to keep the sediment on the bottom of the wine from being poured into someone’s glass.
A wine vacuum sealer is a little gadget that can help when you don’t want to finish a bottle of wine. Many people usually put a cork in the bottle and leave it but the air inside will gradually reduce the quality of the wine. This could affect the wine if you don’t drink the wine for a couple of days. If you know you aren’t going to finish the bottle within the week then you could benefit from a vacuum sealer.
You should have some knowledge on corkscrews. They are pretty self explanatory. You might hear references to a device called the rabbit which is a cork screw that attaches to a table and has the shape of rabbit ears. Besides that you should always use the right glasses to help bring the taste out of your wine.
I never thought that there were so many details in the gadgets used with wine until I started trying some. They do make a difference and you should try some of these gadgets in your house. You can find reasonably priced items at your local wine store or even online at TheLiquorStore.com. So pick some up today and let me know what you think.
Further reading: Will Glass Wine Bottles be Replaced?
