Wine Aerators-Are they worth the effort?
I have the propaganda about the use of aerators, read reviews, used a lot of different styles, and talked to winery tasting room folks about their opinions. The reviews are like noses; everyone has one. Here is my take and I will admit, it is worth what you paid for it.
The function of any aerator is to ‘open up’ the wine and make it easier to pick out the ‘notes’ inherent in the wine. I personally think aerating works on newer full-bodied wines. The perception is that oxygenating wine brings the bouquet to the front. Personally, I love the smells of wine, then trying to pick the scents of each note. A winemaker friend always corrects me, she calls the non-oxygenation sensation when you first open a high alcohol wine a “hot wine”, not to be confused with temperature. Hence, most distributors of aerators push the benefits as being centric to helping the bouquet and texture/tone of wine.
So what kind of aerators are there to choose from: 1. The In bottlekind which sticks into the neck of the bottle and the wine pours through the device-some types allow the wine to first pour into a reservoir then you pour the wine out of the reservoir into the glass. Others pour direct through a globe into the glass. (The two basic types of this style is the Versavino and the Soiree. The Versavino is glass and is made in Italy and China and the Soiree is also glass and made in China. 2. Then there are the devices that work on the venturi effect; thank you Mr. Venturi and Bernoulli. The principle is, when a liquid’s flow is constricted, strategically placed air holes at the constricted point will allow air to infuse the fluid and voila!, aeration is born. Notable of these, Magic Decanter, Respirer/Wisp, and a relatively new one called Spreathe. The Spreathe aerates the bottle in 2 minutes and you don’t need further aeration for each glass poured.
Prices range from$19.95 to $38.95 and you really don’t know if you like any particular aerator until you try them all. Most of my frequented Wine Cafes do not use aerators. Besides, they open them to naturally breath for their “by-the-glass” customers. And, most nice restaurants will decant a whole bottle into a decanter at your request. Now that doesn’t make sense but that is the deal.
Go on-line and do a search for “wine aerators” and see what you get. Simply use some degree of logic in selecting one for your enjoyment of wine. But, our main focus is to always provide products and information that add to the enjoyment of wine.
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