The superior aeration device I use and provide for young wines is the VinOair, spelled exactly that way, as there are less well designed knock offs with the same name spelled differently.
It is twice as efficient(twice the vacuum created, twice the air introduced) as other aerators using a dual chambered Venturi system, is a sleek bottle top device which also eliminate drips and costs $20 or less.
That is my take on it too. I haven’t used one myself, but it did help on at least one sulphurous wine I tried in a friends house. Probably equivalent to a good shaking in the decanter and leaving for an hour or two. So in that sense it works, and is quicker and more convenient. But usually I would hope not to buy sulphurous wines anyway, and do not feel motivated to own the gadget.
I’ll bump this.
A few years ago, my wine tasting group had an “aerator” night. In addition the Vinturi, we had 3 other aerators that we labeled the “goose,” the “bong” and the “catheter.” (IIRC the catheter was the VinOair).
We tried each aerator on a variety of young (1-3 yrs) and oldish (4-7 yrs) wines. It was astonishing how much of a difference they made. Most of the time that was a good thing. Interestingly, some aerators worked great on one wine, then just so-so on another. The overall winner was the bong.
I hardly ever have the foresight to decant, so I’ll pour a small sample in my glass before deciding whether to use my Vinturi.
Cheers,
Patrick
Which one was the bong?
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The bong was the “Soiree.” It was a little fragile, but I think version 2.0 is supposed to be better.
If I feel the need to decant/aerate, grab the Tupperware/food container that holds 750ml, empty the bottle into it. Funnel the wine back into the bottle.
Done.
I’m a pretty big fan of the Nuance Wine Finer. It aerates the wine just enough, but it really shines in filtering out sediment (the amount it catches is scary sometimes), acting as a no-drip pour spout, and then at the end of the night you put the cap on it and it’s basically like putting a cork in the bottle.
I can taste a side-by-side difference on pop and pours. The must handy use of the aerator for me is the sieve that comes with the Vinturi. Especially helpful for when you get a little cork in the bottle.
Interesting. I’ll have to spend some time…and wine…trying the different aerators to see if I notice a difference.
Since they’re cheap I think they’re worth having for a couple of reasons. If someone comes by unexpectedly and you want to open a bottle it helps get it going faster, and it filters out quite a bit of sediment too. I don’t use it a ton but I’m glad I have one. Go cheap though
Asking the real questions. ![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
I have noticed that, when using a French press to make coffee, I enjoy the flavor and aromas of my java more when I pour from about 8-10 inches above into the mug in a gentle stream/trickle.
It forms tiny bubbles on the surface of my coffee, aerating the beverage and yielding more flavorful volatile compounds…?
The same is true for wine: a Vinturi or a similar device exposes oxygen to a greater surface area of wine.
We use our Vinturi at byo restaurants since we will be drinking the wine quicker than we would at home. We always get looks because of the noise it makes but the improvement in taste is worth it
I just decant and re-bottle my wine before going to the restaurants.
In my experience, they seem to help with “bigger” reds but have little affect on Pinot Noirs.