Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator
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List Price: Our Price: $29.99 You Save: $9.96 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator
Customer Review: Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator - Have Owned This for 18 mos.
Summary: 5 Stars
We have been very pleased with this item. Some friends turned us on to this gadget one night, so we wanted to give it a try at home. While red wines still taste better given some time to breathe (even after using the Aerator), this aerator does seem to substantially reduce the wait time before your first sip. As with most casual wine drinkers, when we open a bottle we are not inclined to wait for 15 - 30+ minutes for the bottle to breathe. So if this is you, this aerator is a good addition to your wine accessories since it does seem to speed up the breathing process. In the $30 - $35 dollar range, this item is discounted from the $40 - $55 some wineries and wine tasting shops will charge you. Thus in the $30+ range it is well worth the money. It is an interesting piece of engineering too. If you drink red wines, this is probably something that you will feel was worth the money. They are still not widespread in the average household, so if you know someone who enjoys red wines, this makes an excellent, moderately priced gift for that person who has everything else. We would suggest you rinse it out periodically so that wine residue doesn't start to stain the internal parts; although this is probably more of a cosmetic issue than anything. Ours still looks brand new. Our friends' aerator looks well used. Take your pick. We've owned ours now for almost 2 years now. BTW, it is well made and durable. We've had no problems with it 'breaking' or something malfunctioning. If you are borderline/skeptical about this gadget, it will exceed your expectations so go for it. Cheers...Customer Review: Drinking Good Tasting Wine Just Got a Whole Lot Cheaper
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the Red and White Wine aerators along with the VacuVin base model pump and corks and I have been really happy. I must forewarn you that I am not a wine expert but this is what I noticed while using the two aerators. I could immediately taste the difference when I used the red wine aerator. When I used the white wine aerator it made the wine a little bit smoother but didn't seem like it could bring out new hidden flavors like the red did. I think the red aerator is a must buy because it makes inexpensive and expensive reds noticeably better. With the white wine aerator you almost always need to start with a nice tasting white wine when using the white aerator because it seems that whites don't open up as well as reds the just get a little smoother and any negative qualities usually linger. If you are wondering I do store my wine at recommended temperatures and use a VacuVin pump to seal up and bottles that aren't finished. Overall I was extremely pleased with the red aerators wide range capability to open up cheap and nice wines alike, while I felt the benefits weren't worth the expense when it came to the white aerator mainly because it didn't open the wine or improve flavor it only seemed to smooth it out.
The red aerator is a great way to fly under the radar and make inexpensive wines taste great, while the white aerator is like icing on the cake, and you need to start with a nice tasting bottle of wine that most likely will be more expensive.
Good Luck!
Customer Review: Non believer to Believer
Summary: 5 Stars
Having tried gimmicky "aerators" before and always..... reverted to decanting or opening bottle at least 1-2 hours before consumption, I was pleased, but dubious when my wife gifted me with both the red and white Vinturi aerators for Christmas. I decided to "blind test" the red version and placed a piece of masking tape on the bottom of the base of each wine glass (stem). One of the stems I marked with a V and the other was left blank. I then poured a mid glass portion of wine with and without the Vinturi. Obviously, since the Vinturi leaves a significnat number of air bubbles around the surface of the wine in the glass, I waited for those to dissipate and then mixed the glasses around and around for about 1 minute to ensure I did not know which was which. I then began my test with a fresh palate and savored each glass with the habitual swirl, "nose", taste allowing the wine to slowly envelope the tougue before swallowing. With a newly cleansed moved on the the 2nd glass and repeated the exercise. Actually, the complete procedure was unnecessary with the 2nd I already knew which was the aerated "winner". Just to make sure.......I tipped the glasses and "voila" my tastebuds had passed the exam. I have tried this with various friends......even those who are not regular wine drinkers and almost to the man / woman, Vinturi has been a winner.Customer Review: Yes, it really is an essential product.
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not going to go over what every one else has said, but if you like red wine you will like this product. It basically performs the job of an hour's worth of decanting in a traditional decanter.
It really makes bold and fruity wines (and especially sub $10 wines) taste better instantly. If you have a wine that you want to drink, that you are not crazy about, give this a shot. It will definitely change the taste, and often for the better.
It also does a wonderful job on most cabernets, mellowing them out and taking the edges off -especially for your more expensive wines.
Be warned, however, that not all wines benefit from this product. I wouldn't use it on non-tannic wines, or wines that don't benefit from aging. I used it on a pinot noir and it kind of castrated it -taking off some of the wonderful flavors. In the end, that wine just did't need to be decanted.
Anything that tastes "overpowering" will be a good choice to try with this aerator, and I want to mention agan how much nice some cheaper wines taste after using this.
One final thing. This product can be used on a per glass basis. You don't need to decant into another object -just put it above your wine glass and do a glass's worth at a time. What a great idea. I will never use a decanter again.
Customer Review: Nice Product
Summary: 4 Stars
Works as described and makes our wine delicious. I was going to give this item 5 stars, but the item description says this is supposed to come with a carrying pouch and that was not included in the box. Amazon said they would ship out another aerator which to me is kind of silly since all I want is the pouch that is supposed to come with it. If the next aerator shows up with a pouch I will change my rating here to 5 stars. Vinturi's web site on this item says it's supposed to include a filter and it did come in the box with the stand, but their website says nothing about this item coming with the carrying pouch, although the white version of the aerator says it does come with it on their website.
Update 12/28/2010
Looks like Red version no longer comes with the travel pouch. Amazon sent me another one when I called them to complain it did not contain the pouch and sure enough the 2nd one did not contain the pouch either. I also ordered the white version and that version does come with the pouch. The Red version does however come with a filter and the White version does not. Amazon needs to update the description of these items and seperate them. I checked out Vinturi's web site and I confirmed that these are now shipped with the items as I just mentioned. They have repackaged both the Red and White aerators.