Accessories for hardcore wine enthusiasts(2)
Decanting aerate the wine and exposes the aromas, that a wine glass even with a deep bowl may not be able to do in minutes. Most decanters are shaken violently to release flavors and the complex aromas. One of the most fascinating decanters I have seen and used recently is the L’Atelier Decanter with their patented Aroma Developer. This developer is a ball that fit snugly on the decanter neck. The ball has six pouring grooves and an air passage pin. As a result of the Aroma Developer’s six pouring grooves, the wine flows smoothly and slowly, clinging to the different walls of the decanter, and therefore getting the ideal oxygenation as the wine is being poured. The oxygenation is already equivalent to the violent shaking done on ordinary decanters. This is a wonderful concept, and is really very entertaining to watch, too. L’Atelier Decanter with Aroma Developer is exclusively distributed by Garden Barn Inc., with office number 833-1080 and fax number 832-5240.
Iceless wine cooler
How do we keep our champagnes and white wines cool all the time? This is a real challenge. If you iced the wine in a regular bucket, the temperature can go lower than you want. Your wine can become too cold, dropping to less than 50C, which will numb the aromas and kill the taste. Bad wines as they say need to be served really cold, so you don’t have to smell or taste the wine, leaving you with just a cold beverage with alcohol. On the other hand, good champagnes and white wines need to be kept cold, but not too cold. We want to maintain 110C for champagnes and a slightly higher 14-160C for very good white wines like those from Chablis, Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs and Galician Albarino.
The iceless wine cooler is a fantastic invention to keep champagne and white wine temperature stable for hours. The pre-chilled or pre-iced wine bottle placed in the inner compartment of the wine cooler creates a natural cool environment. This environment is preserved by a unique air barrier provided by the double wall insulation. Cold air stays in while hot air stays out. The iceless wine cooler is made from 100 percent acrylic, and is clear and clean to look at. The wine cooler can take the place of the messy wine buckets. Since no ice is needed, there will be no mess, no wet labels, and the label will remain visible the whole time because of the clear acrylic material. I have no idea if there are iceless wine coolers available, but this useful accessory is not expensive and retails less than $10 in the States.
Wine collar thermometer
An indispensable complement to the iceless wine cooler is the wine collar thermometer. Before removing your white wines, ros wines or even lighter reds like a Gamay (Beaujolais) or a Dolcetto (from Piedmonte) from a cold bucket, the collar thermometer can come in handy to measure the wines’ temperature. Unlike standard wine thermometers that need to be dipped slightly into the wine to get a temperature reading, the collar thermometer is simply clipped to the body of the wine bottle to get the same reading. The collar thermometer even comes with temperature guides to the different popular wine regions and styles. The only problem may be that the temperature is written in fahrenheit, not in centigrade celsius we are all used to. But no problem.... the conversion is just fahrenheit less 320, multiply by 5/9. The collar thermometer is very light and looks posh in its silver band form. It also adds aesthetic value to any wine bottle. The wine thermometer retails in the US at roughly $10. All in all, the accessories and gadgets are meant to ensure that we get to taste the wines at its prime most condition. But caution though, despite all these accessories, a bad wine choice will never turn out better... but it will surely look good.
