|
Buying Guide
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Wine Accessories
Bottle Stoppers
These come in handy especially if you want to recork a bottle that has a badly broke, crumbling or punctured cork. Otherwise, they're more for decoration.
Leakproof Rings, Wine Pourers
These are useful especially if you want to save your labels and not ruin your tablecloth. It's really quite annoying that we haven't been able to design bottles that allow you to pour the wine out without it dribbling down the sides.
Useful Tip
If you're tired of having wine drip down the sides of your wine bottles, or maybe you want to keep the wine labels, here's a simple trick I invented (okay, I think I invented it since I haven't seen anyone else do it. You saw it here first folks!)
   
Step 1: After cutting the top of the foil off, grasp the foil with your hand and twist it till it's partially off the wine bottle top.
Step 2: Stretch or tear the top of the foil so that it's wider than the mouth of the bottle and gently twist the foil back to the original position.
When you now pour the wine, you_ll find that the wine spills will immediately be captured by the outstretched foil! Pretty neat huh! With practice, you_ll be able to do it in under 15 seconds. But if you don't like the look (yes, it's a little messier than having a clean cut across the foil), just get a leak-proof ring or a combination wine pourer and stopper.
Funnels
Works well to help you decant your wine. Some of the fancier ones are designed to further aerate your wines for you, while others have a sieve to capture any sediment that may have come through.
Bottle chillers
Works best to keep champagnes and white wines cold. Using bottle chillers can make the statement that you're paying attention to proper serving temperatures. Your guests will appreciate it.
Wine charms
This is a great way to keep track of where your glass is. When we throw wine parties, you will inevitably hear a guest say "Hey, is this my glass?" or worse "Dude, you just drank my wine...". Wine charms fix that. The only annoying thing about them is that they 'clink' against the base of the glass and can be a hassle to put on and take off. Still, this is a great solution to an annoying and persistent problem.
AeratorsThere are 2 schools of thought here. One says that there is no reason to let wine breath. Just uncork and enjoy. I fall in the other camp. I've consistently seen wines taste better when you let them breath for some time before consuming. There are many, many toys out there that help your wine aerate quicker. Keep in mind that all these aerator tools do the same thing - allow more wine to get in contact with air over a much shorter period of time. You can achieve the same results by letting the wine sit in your glass or decanter for 10 to 15 minutes, or longer if you let it sit in the opened bottle.
Vinturi
Great concept and works. It's pretty cool to see math applied in its design to cause all those bubbles to form. Very handy when you don't have time to let wine breath before serving. However, I find that I rarely use it because I don't like the extra cleanup, is somewhat cumbersome to use, and hey, I get the same results by letting the wine sit for 15 minutes!
There are a whole bunch of wine aerators out there - some attached to the bottle, others as an aerating funnel, Vinturi lookalikes, etc. Now that you understand the whole purpose of an aerator (creating as much contact between the wine and air), you can now evaluate the effectiveness of one just by seeing how it works. My personal take is that they're a nice-to-have that makes for good conversation, and many are just a hassle. If you see one you like, go ahead.
Shop for Wine Bottle Accessories
Shop for Bar Accessories
|
|
|
|
