I received a wine aerator from Vino Aria for the purposes of review. It is a great little gift for the wine enthusiast in your life and comes packaged in a darling little box. The rubber cork on the end of the aerator fits very easily into the opening of the wine bottle. The feature of this gadget that appeals most to me is the drop stopping. No more will we have to contend with the back dripping that almost inevitably happens when trying to pour the perfect glass of wine.
From the manufacturer:
- Fits wine bottle perfectly unlike other aerators; which can cause leaks and dripping. Simply pour your wine through the Vino Aria Aerator and into your wine glass. You’ll immediately detect noticeably enhanced scents and taste.
- This little wonder of a device instantly delivers a more satisfying wine drinking experience through the enhance breather process. It also downplays any bitterness and puckering that are associated with many red wines.
- This edition has a unique petal design with a laser engraved logo. The silver ring stands out and adds to the classy look. The rubberized core dries quickly and the sturdy construction of acrylic, you’ll be using it for years to come.
- Unlike other aerators this is not bulky and it does not require two hands. The aerator offers breathability as it pours with no wait time. This is a highly gifted product, which includes admirable packaging. The black box stands out against the logo.
- When you order today, you’re protected by our life time guarantee; whether its 10 days from now or 10 months from now. Please let us know; we strive for world-class customer service!
Though I am no sommelier I do enjoy a glass of wine from time to time. Over the years I had heard about the benefits of wine aeration or decanting, but had never tried it on purpose on my own. Frankly, most of the wines I’d tried were best straight out of the bottle and got worse tasting with extended exposure to air. So I went on a quest to find the answer to why this is. I discovered this article from WineKick.com which gave one of the simplest, non-scientific explanations to why some wines do well with aeration and others don’t. In the end it really is a matter of taste.
Long answer:
Wine is a living thing. Its appearance, texture, and flavor can change as the wine ages in a cellar or throughout the course of a night after the bottle is opened. Some wines are “closed” when the cork is first pulled and “open up” after that. A “closed” wine means it tastes muted and simple, and wine that has “opened up” will have a greater depth and range of interesting flavors.
Not all wines open up with air. Fruity and inexpensive red and white wines taste best when they are first opened. All wine goes bad with enough exposure to air. Wines intended to age in cellars and develop earthy or savory flavors can improve with a few hours or even a full day of exposure to air before they decline to tasting awful. Inexpensive wines often have an even shorter time they are good before they descend into undrinkability. I’ve had good, cheap wine (I’m talking $4 or $5 cheap) that tasted great when I first opened the bottle, but had lost all of its deliciousness after 30 minutes and toasted downright bad within an hour. Conversely, I’ve had more expensive wines with complex earthy and savory flavors that got better throughout the night, and a small amount I saved for the next day tasted just as good or better.
So what does all that have to do with aerators? Aeration speeds up that process. Aerating a wine can make a wine you just opened taste like it has been open for 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, or more. This can be good or bad depending on the quality of the wine. When I open a bottle and consider using an aerator, I always pour two glasses—one sample straight from the bottle and one sample through an aerator. I decide which tastes better and do that for the rest of the bottle. The unaerated sample often tastes better.
What about white wine? It’s up to you, but I don’t aerate white wine. It may help white wine meant to age for years and develop savory or earthy flavors, but I drink mostly light, crisp, fruity, and refreshing white wine – a style best enjoyed fresh and unaerated.
Here are a few other interesting articles about wine aeration:
What is the science behind the aeration of wine?
Firstly, I’m a mom and wife. Professionally, IT consulting is my job and blogging is the outlet for my passions. I write about things that affect the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent or any parent for that matter such as parenting, relationships, discipline, the media, product reviews, giveaways, social media, food, cooking, gardening and anything else that might come my way.
