Are wine aerators necessary or just a nice accessory?

My mother passed me a site yesterday of a vinturi aerator that she just bought. I decided to try it out today at a family meeting and see what’s up with these tools. What I think is that they don’t really do something that you cannot do, by just moving the glass around and letting the wine breathe in that way. I did notice great improvement with young wines, intended to age. But still, not buying in too much to these. Apparently some are able to filter out sediment though, which sounds like an interesting idea with young or homemade unfiltered wines that may require softer tannin in the finish. What do you guys think?

Alvaro,
I agree with you. An aerator might help speed things up in the first few minutes, but unless you’re desperate to drink the glass immediately, the wine will eventually catch up. BTW, it’s my opinion that getting oxygen into the wine has nothing to do with “opening up” or tasting better. It’s getting undesirable components (particularly sulfur) out that changes how the wine shows.

Purely a toy.

We got a Vinturi, played with it a few times, and now there it sits in the decanter cupboard. Forlorn, mostly unused.

Maybe sometimes with a brand new white we may break it out for a run, but otherwise not a major player in our toy box.

I like it. I think it makes a noticeable difference in the first 30 - 45 minutes from opening. It is also useful as a filter to remove sediment.

A cellar and some patience would be better IMO, as I think wines invariably show better when mature, no matter how much aeration a young wine gets. However if drinking young is what’s going to happen, aeration does generally work.

I find wine aerators useful for young wines and where I am lazy to decant. I also have friends that stick the wine ina blender to aerate. I find that somewhat offensive but who am I to judge?

Also, not to hijack the thread, but how does one get undesirable components out? Are we talking about the decanting process or something else? [stirthepothal.gif]

It is useful when you do not have time for decanting, such as ordering a bottle in a restaurant

That being said, at home I find blender works better.

Sorry I haven’t checked in here recently. Well, decanting is really nothing more than splashing the wine around and exposing it to air. While the conventional wisdom is that getting air into the wine is what changes it and makes it more ready to drink, there are some knowledgeable wine academics who postulate that what that air exposure is really doing is facilitating the removal of volatile sulfur compounds that mask the taste of the wine. Either way, just pouring from the bottle into a glass serves the same function, and swirling the wine and letting it air in the glass is going to do just as much as an aerator, decanter, or blender [cheers.gif]

Necessary? No.
Nice accessory? Yes

I have one. I use them on bottles that I know I shouldn’t be opening yet. Maybe one out of 20 bottles. I prefer a long decant, but sometimes things like work get in the way of that.

I find that they do make a big difference over simply swirling the wine around inside your glass. How long do you really want to swirl your glass around for? And after two or three glasses, you’re likely to spill it. The idea is that the wine gets aerated before or as it goes into your glass. You can read up more on how it all works and why owning an aerator is a good idea here: http://winecoolers.reviews/do-wine-aerators-actually-work/

I have used them and like having one when a wine initially shows little when first opened. The fact that the Vinturi sits on top of the decanter is convenient, as well.

I am not opposed to using a straw in a glass of wine to get some oxygen into it, however, so I guess I am a savage brute.

We did a few different bottles over the course of an evening and would pour thru the Venturi on one glass and straight out of the bottle on a second glass and blind everyone (but me) on the two glasses and most of the tasters liked the non-Venturi glass better YMMV

Mel, the logical follow-up questions:

What wines were being served?

What are the general preferences of the participants?



Some older wines are best served straight from the bottle. Some wines perform better PnP, generally speaking.

If someone enjoys more tannic, compact wine flavor profiles, an aerated wine might not be appealing. Acid/tannin/fruit perception will inevitably be different in aerated and non-aerated wines.

My mom said not to do that

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Hmmm… thanks for bumping this topic. I’d completely forgotten about my Vinturi sitting on a back closet shelf. Gonna give it a whirl on the next low-end daily drinker my wife brings home that is too rough for me.

I have one and it made cheap cabernet sauvignon drinkable, even tasty.

I like it because it allows the wine to stay chilled and takes up less space than a decanter. I’ve also used a large beaker, swirling around the wine quickly. But a beaker is not so classy. And the aerator makes a fun wooshing sound.

The aerator is also easier to wash than a decanter. I typically only use it on cheaper and younger wines though. The main difference being that I plan out my more expensive bottles better and allow for adequate decant time on those.

I usually just coravin my wine directly through the aerator into the decanter.

Read somewhere a blender does the same thing?

I have decanters, vinturis, a coravin (perfect for desert wines but bottles rarely make it in our house past a night) and use all but for different reasons. Every situation seems to be a little different depending on varietals, age, etc. but I like to experiment. I have done multiple simple blind experiments with my wife or guests where I have vinturied the wine and generally guests/wife preferred the vinturied wine. Most of the wine I vinturi, I am admittedly drinking too young and didn’t have the time during the week to decant (generally in the $15-$30 range). My general practice is open, pour a small taste into the glass, swirl to clean glass and taste. Make the decision to decant or not or even vinturi into the decanter based on how tight it is. Decanting time is a crapshoot where I prefer to be able to check in on every 30 minutes or hour but don’t always have that luxury, and so make some guesses and some mistakes. For older wine, I tend to err on the side of caution so PnP, if too tight double decant, …then decant for time, but rarely use a vinturi. To me the process is part of the fun and when you get it right, it makes it that much more rewarding and helpful for subsequent bottles. I know that I spend too much time thinking about all of the variables but it keeps my mind working and generally my wife appreciates the effort while she is rolling her eyes.