Gifts to delight wine lovers
The range of wine gadgets and glassware available these days is mind-boggling. Some of these products genuinely enhance the enjoyment of wine; however, a good deal of them are destined for the re-gifting corner of the closet.
There are now dozens of devices designed to aerate wine, for example, from copper swizzle sticks and magnets to glasses that allow wine to "breathe"--most of which strikes me as gimmicky.
A good decanter or two is essential, though--and it's all you really need to allow wine to breathe. Most young wines, including high-acid white wines such as young Riesling, benefit from decanting, although the wine world is not entirely united on this concept.
The late professor Emile Peynaud -- a leading wine authority in his day --was firmly against decanting other than to remove sediment from old wines. He felt that decanting young wines detracted from their sensory perceptions, although if he tasted some of the super-extracted, high-alcohol behemoths that wineries are turning out these days, he might well have changed that opinion.
My personal experiences have me firmly on the side of decanting young wines, and there is an entire industry tied to this widely held belief.
The Austrian firm Riedel produces some beautiful--and very expensive --decanters, but some of their more interesting shapes can be very difficult to clean.
There is a new line of decanters, however, from the Italian design firm Italesse, which are as striking as they are functional. Leave it to the Italians to come up with beautifully simple, clean designs that lure you in every time. These mouth-blown decanters are made from lead-free crystal and sell for $175 each--making them a little pricey but still considerably less than one of Riedel's top examples.
Despite recession woes, Champagne sales around the globe remain brisk, and over the next month many a flute will be lifted to toast the holiday season and the coming new year. The traditional flute is fine, of course: Riedel makes some lovely ones for about $30 a stem, but I love the stemless flutes ($23) from Iitalla, the Finnish company with a long history of timeless, cutting edge design.
I purchased some of these earlier this year intending to use them for everyday sparkling wines such as Prosecco and Cava, but they look so good on the table that I now use them for everything that contains bubbles --Champagne included. They have a thick heavy base that allows you to hold them without getting fingerprints all over the glass and warming up the contents prematurely.
Finally, there's a universe of instruments designed to remove corks from bottles. If you want something that will last for generations, I would suggest the handmade corkscrews from Forge de Laguiole in France.
If you are planning on buying a Laguiole corkscrew--they sell from about $50 to $250 each--be warned that some other companies have moved production to China and the quality is not the same as those made in France.
Laguiole, however, is regarded as the best producer in France and in 2002 the company created a special high-strength steel that remains a closely guarded secret. The blades on the company's corkscrews and knives are guaranteed for life and can be returned to the factory for replacement at any time. The handles are produced from exotic woods, horn and acrylics-- a great gift idea for that special wine lover in your life. Cheers!