For all the wine drinkers out there, do wine aerators work? If so, does it matter which one I buy? Walmart has a cheap 10 dollar one. I personally really enjoy wine, so its worth the investment if I am going to drink a bottle to make it taste better.
You’ll notice it if you’re drinking older, and usually more expensive bottles. I have this and love it:
Cool unit burt. I wonder why they made it out of crystal instead of just glass. My mom always said that you have to be very careful with crystal, no dish washer or something like that.
We’ve got something called the “vinturi” or some such. Was a gift, so I"m not sure of the cost. It’s modeled off of the venturi in a carburetor, hence the name. We find that it makes a noticeable difference, even in the fairly average wines we usually drink.
So generally the opinion is yes, it does help.
But I should have mentioned I am drinking pretty cheap wine. I’m a college kid so I’m not spending more than 20$, if that, on a bottle. Do you people think it is worth it even with the cheap bottles I am buying?
A good aerator will make a 4 dollar bottle of Thunderbird taste like a 6 dollar bottle of Night Train!
Seriously though, they work very well, and in my opinion lend themselves exceptionally well to cheap bottles. They’ll make a great bottle of wine taste a little bit greater, but they’ll make a mediocre bottle of wine taste good.
I live pretty close to the wine country of Ontario, and most vineyards sell these aerators alongside their wines in their gift shops…should tell you something.
[quote]TomRocco wrote:
For all the wine drinkers out there, do wine aerators work? If so, does it matter which one I buy? Walmart has a cheap 10 dollar one. I personally really enjoy wine, so its worth the investment if I am going to drink a bottle to make it taste better.[/quote]
I occasionally use a decanter for wine or whiskey, but Tim Ferriss (love him or hate him) had some interesting info about the topic:
I just poke a hole in the box with a screw driver and that airs it out just fine…
[quote]batman730 wrote:
We’ve got something called the “vinturi” or some such. Was a gift, so I"m not sure of the cost. It’s modeled off of the venturi in a carburetor, hence the name. We find that it makes a noticeable difference, even in the fairly average wines we usually drink.[/quote]
I’ve just been using an old Holley 850 double-pumper…
I din’t think letting the wine air out would actually make such a difference in taste but I guess I will give it a shot next time.
[quote]PimpBot5000 wrote:
A good aerator will make a 4 dollar bottle of Thunderbird taste like a 6 dollar bottle of Night Train!
Seriously though, they work very well, and in my opinion lend themselves exceptionally well to cheap bottles. They’ll make a great bottle of wine taste a little bit greater, but they’ll make a mediocre bottle of wine taste good.
I live pretty close to the wine country of Ontario, and most vineyards sell these aerators alongside their wines in their gift shops…should tell you something.[/quote]
^^ This ^^
It makes the biggest difference with the low-end wines.
The Venturi is good.
[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
Cool unit burt. I wonder why they made it out of crystal instead of just glass. My mom always said that you have to be very careful with crystal, no dish washer or something like that.[/quote]
Crystal decanters often contain lead.
This is fine, so long as you dont store your wine in one as the lead can leach into the wine.
[quote]TomRocco wrote:
For all the wine drinkers out there, do wine aerators work?
[/quote]
Yes
Not really, although the larger the surface area the better.
Absolutely. Any red wine under screwcap for any length of time needs aeration as sulphur builds up. Young cab sav, shiraz, pinot etc. need a longer aeration and old wines need less and will begin to oxidise if left too long.
[quote]jldume wrote:
I din’t think letting the wine air out would actually make such a difference in taste[/quote]
Yes it does I can assure you.
[quote]TomRocco wrote:
So generally the opinion is yes, it does help.
But I should have mentioned I am drinking pretty cheap wine. I’m a college kid so I’m not spending more than 20$, if that, on a bottle. Do you people think it is worth it even with the cheap bottles I am buying?[/quote]
Price doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. For example, some of the finest semillon and riesling in the Southern Hemisphere are less than $35 a bottle: Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon and Grosset Polish Hill Riesling. Also, prime vintage years produce an abundance of high quality fruit lowering prices.
I also like the personal aerators with the mesh screens to keep the sentiment out when drinking port or older reds. You can use a napkin, but the aerators are much easier and cleaner.
[quote]Christine wrote:
I also like the personal aerators with the mesh screens to keep the sentiment out when drinking port or older reds. You can use a napkin, but the aerators are much easier and cleaner.[/quote]
Drink yer sediment 
[quote]jldume wrote:
I din’t think letting the wine air out would actually make such a difference in taste but I guess I will give it a shot next time. [/quote]
It depends on the wine… No all wines respond. The way to test if you need to breath it, is if you taste it and it has a tingle on your tongue, then it needs to breathe. It’s usually the better ones that need it… You’re housewife brands don’t really need it.
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
[quote]TomRocco wrote:
So generally the opinion is yes, it does help.
But I should have mentioned I am drinking pretty cheap wine. I’m a college kid so I’m not spending more than 20$, if that, on a bottle. Do you people think it is worth it even with the cheap bottles I am buying?[/quote]
Price doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. For example, some of the finest semillon and riesling in the Southern Hemisphere are less than $35 a bottle: Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon and Grosset Polish Hill Riesling. Also, prime vintage years produce an abundance of high quality fruit lowering prices.[/quote]
That’s why I don’t pay over $20 for a bottle anymore. There are plenty of really nice wines for $20 or under.
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
[quote]Christine wrote:
I also like the personal aerators with the mesh screens to keep the sentiment out when drinking port or older reds. You can use a napkin, but the aerators are much easier and cleaner.[/quote]
Drink yer sediment :)[/quote]
Stupid auto-correct.