Instant Aging For Your Red Wine

Cost: $39.99

What: Vinturi Wine Aerator

I was skeptical when I first heard about this gadget. There were all sorts of claims about how it would age your wine instantly, smoothing off the rough edges. But it seemed too good and too simple to be true.

I was wrong. It is everything you could hope for. This model is made by Vinturi, and it’s carried at just about every wine shop in town. This one was photographed at the White Horse. There also are other models that work well.

The Vinturi works on the principal that wine tastes better when it breathes a little, that is, gets some oxygen mixed with it. That’s why we swirl the wine around our glass, to maximize the exposure to oxygen.

As you pour the wine into the Venturi, it swirls down the tube and sucks in air through two small holes drilled in the side. As you pour you hear a hissing sound like a snake. That’s the air being sucked in to mix with the wine. The wine that falls through the opening into your glass is now hyperoxygenated.

Two cautions: Don’t cover the holes that bring the air in, and don’t pour too fast. You’ll end up with wine all over your hand.

If you ever get a chance to test one of these, do it, whether at a wine shop or at a friend’s house. Taste the wine before and after aerating. You’ll be amazed at the difference.