A few years ago for New Year’s Eve, we had friends over for dinner. They came bearing some great wines from the northern Virginia region along with an item that has become my second favorite wine tool (the first is a double-hinged waiter’s corkscrew — a must): a bottle-top wine aerator.
I’ll assume that if you’re reading this, you’ve likely been to a wine tasting or 50. You know about swirling and aerating, and maybe once you actually remembered to open a bottle of wine an hour before your guests arrived to let it breathe.
Well, the wine aerator does all of that for you, right as you pour. They’re inexpensive, handy and make a great gift any time of year.
The Vitalius Wine Aerator, specifically, is a great choice. It fits tightly into the top of the wine bottle, so it never spills, and as you pour, the wine mixes with oxygen, which “opens up” the wine, enhancing the nose and unleashing layers of flavor the wine was intended to impart.
Ever have a wine that tasted flat? It should have been aerated. It’s also my trick for “cheap” wines (let’s face it, who can pass up a Fine Wine & Good Spirits “fill the tote” special?).
Of course, it’s also super light, thus portable, so it served us well at our local BYOB on Friday night.
Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. However, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
