aeration of your wine
well this is a reprint of a previous post. its about aeration which to me transforms a wine. i would never willingly drink a red without aerating it. if i can decant it for 4 hrs good or use an aeration funnel and drink right away.
it transformed the Mastrnardi Merlot and makes D'Angelo's Baco-Foch drink far better than the price they give it away for. i think its so important that i am reprinting this one.
tootles, here we go again:::
well i tried to use ms word for the post but i gave up as it was making me capitalize things and i couldn't get rid of that damn paperclip. i just wish wp could be used here.
so here we go.
anyone who knows me knows i love my toys. when it comes to enjoying wine, why not?? well i'll give you my favourite, but first a little rant.
glasses: why do i need a separate glass for each wine??? i fully understand that it would be bad to drink dom out of a dixie cup, but i find it hard to believe that a glassware company can design a glass specifically for each wine. i love the marketing but come on. we lived for years with red, white and champaign glasses. i guess i'm missing something. i manage to break so many that my table would look like an orphanage. i like the stemless glasses but i really like the knockoff brands who are 2 bucks a glass.
now for my fav. it the airation funnels. seen one of these??? tso found them when we went to niagara last year. i scoffed at the idea until i tried the difference. i bought one on the spot.
the basic concept is to airate the wine just like you would if you decanted it for several hours but you do it instantaneously. for a wine pig like me this is great. i'm kinda impatient.
there are several styles so i will try to discuss the ones i've used.
welfare mother: take a freezer bag and use it like a pastry bag. pick a corner and poke several holes around the corner, pour wine in it and watch the sprinkler. this works remarkably well but you need a pitcher to cath the spray. this is a great way to test the theory and/or shame the boyfriend into buying you one.
i have a wmf stainless steel one. it resenbles a funnel with the base blanked off and holes put around the perimiter above the blanked off end. mine has a short tube, but this is great for my decanter. mine is a modern type and as such it doesn't have much of a neck so i wanted the wine to be spayed to the side of the decanter asap. it works great
if you have a captain's type decanter a longer stemmed funnel can be used. i ended up buying tso a french one with a real small diameter tube and it works really well-- better tham mine and half the price.
there are avariety of style, from pewter to glass to stainless and the price is all over. i would avaoid expensive ones as i'm cheap and i just don't see the added utility. try to find one with multiple holes rather than a slot -- holes create more surface area therefore more airation therefore more smoothing out.
there is another variety which i own and one which i would definitely have if i ran a restaurant or winery. its called final touch and its a glass device which goes into the bottle like a pourer and airates as you pour. its real handy but does about 80% of a funnel/carafe combo.
for red wine the results are amazing. it improves the enjoyment of the wine about 75%. you can drink cheaper wines and better wines are just so much better, i just won't drink a red without airating it first. if you doubt me go buy a bottle of inexpensive red(or anything you have on hand) and make a welfare mother funnel. pour off a glass then decant the rest thru the freezer bag and taste the difference. you can thank me later, enjoy the wine and all your potential savings. do this on a tuscan and life is very good.
i've shared a secret of mine, enjoy.
