Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Most of us will wait ’till the last minute. Thought a few more wine gift ideas would be helpful.
The hottest wine accessory, gadget…Vinturi. It is a wine aerator that you use while pouring a glass of wine. That means it acts like a mini decanter – it gets air into the wine and opens up bouquet and flavors. It is a two-handed operation. Uncork the wine, hold the Vinturi over the glass and pour. You’ll hear a sucking sound — that’s the wine being aerated. Best for red wines, but can be used for white wines too. I’ve seen wineries use it in their tasting rooms so what you taste is the true wine.Comes with rubber stand and a travel pouch and retails for about $30. You can usually find this at a wine shop, or you can order online.
I did my own taste test on a Cotes du Rhone that was really tannic. The wine, once it passed through the Vinturi, was much softer and drinkable, where it wasn’t before.
Another gift idea — Govino wine tumblers. Plastic wine glasses get a bad rap, but these are really cool. Govino glasses look like a famous stemless brand, but won’t break, can be used again and are recyclable. There’s an indention for your thumb that makes the glass easy to hold [although I recommend holding by top of glass when you swirl so as not to warm the wine up too much]. One set is 4 in a box that retails for about $12, and again you can find at most wine shops or online.