Pop, Preserve and Pour: Wine Gifting for the Fall

Items for the wine lover in your life, together with you!

I’ve typically thought that, like moms and dads have their very own holidays, wine drinkers ought to have one, too. OK, there may be Nationwide Wine Day on Could 25, however that conflicts with too many competing occasions—the aforementioned mother and father plus all these grads and June brides. If I had been in command of issues, we’d observe a nationwide day of ingesting and “gifting” (why, sure, I did simply verb a noun! Oh, I did it once more!) in early fall to have a good time harvest and the hard-working producers which are actually the frontline employees of their business. Recognizing their contribution to our liquid enjoyment is the least we wine lovers can do, proper?

So, within the spirit of my make-believe wine vacation, listed here are just a few items that will help you and your giftees (did I simply make that phrase up?) pop that cork and begin ingesting.

POPPING + PRESERVING

Legacy by Cork Pops. Claiming to be the quickest, best technique to open a bottle of wine, this good accent additionally removes that pesky foil. For those who can’t handle the extra pro-styled Coravin, this can be a handsome different with a black matte end that’s sleeker than plenty of assisted openers and doesn’t scream “gadget.” As a result of nothing says novice like a battery-operated wine opener that lights up and whines.

The Legacy makes use of a low-pressure inert fuel cartridge to pop the cork from the bottle. Insert the needle straight down via the cork and as soon as in, a press of the button and a delicate pull up releases the cork. It’s comes with an simply replaceable cartridge that may open roughly 60 bottles of wine and 4 foil cutters on the bottom. $30

Coravin Pivot. The wine preservation lauded by the professionals now has a extra rapid, comprehensible model within the Pivot. It takes a little bit of a scientist to understand the idea of the unique Coravin, with its needle and fuel intervention (inventor Greg Lambrecht, studied nuclear and mechanical engineering earlier than turning his consideration to medical-device growth): Coravin makes use of argon fuel to exchange the oxygen in an opened bottle, preserving freshness for weeks (if not months, relying on the wine). If that is an excessive amount of of a science lesson, try the tutorials on-line. This technique additionally options an aeration attachment—simply in case you’re not the kind to attend on your wine to open (otherwise you’re ingesting actually younger or actually previous wines). What you don’t drink can keep drinkably recent within the bottle for as much as 4 weeks. Consists of the machine in black, teal, gray or coral; an aerator, two proprietary stoppers, two argon fuel capsules. 30-day trial. $129 on website / $99 on amazon.com

SWIRLING & SIPPING

Flavor First wine glasses. Made by Oneida in partnership with wine skilled and writer Karen MacNeil (The Wine Bible), these glasses makes a nifty reward for the wine lover in your life who desires a bit assist. The set of six contains two every designed to reinforce aromas and flavors of glowing wine, whites and reds. However furthermore, the glasses are helpfully and tastefully etched with descriptors for the novice: Crisp & Recent is really useful for glowing wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Grigio); Creamy & Silky is designed with Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Wealthy Rosé, Crimson Pinot Noir, Chianti and Shiraz in thoughts; and Daring & Highly effective glass is for giant, wealthy Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, Bordeaux, Zinfandel, Malbec, Barolo and massive Syrahs.

I attempted them out in two tastings with a bunch of buddies who love wine however aren’t wine educated (they don’t spit!) I assigned a Taste First glass and an everyday glass to every of the three {couples} so they may share and examine. I additionally tasted from an identical set so I might observe their observations or encourage them to expertise the nuances of wine they won’t in any other case discover. General, all of us thought the Taste First glasses enhanced the aromas of the wines, producing extra pronounced notes, particularly within the Crisp & Recent and the Creamy & Silky glasses. I detected this to be particularly so with wines that had extra savory or botanic notes, like herbs or garrigue. It was debatable if these two glasses helped ship extra taste, however the change in taste profile was undoubtedly noticeable with the Daring & Highly effective glass, presumably as a result of the bigger bowl allowed extra aeration. It’s probably your novice drinker buddies gained’t parse tasting the way in which the professionals do, and can recognize having the proper glass for the proper wine. The stems are $12.50 every or $59.99 for a set of six.

DRINKING & CHILLING

Vinglacé. Of all the various drink-chilling vessels—tumblers, glasses, carafes, and so forth.— Vinglacé will get finest in present for presentation. Smooth and fashionable, the stainless glasses are elegant sufficient for an outside ceremonial dinner and the wine bottle chillers can take their place on the desk inside or out. Double-walled stainless and vacuum insulated, they do a superb job maintaining the chilliness in your wine—about 45 minutes (I found by probability as a result of hardly ever do I even have wine in my glass for that lengthy) and a few hours for the bottle chiller. The wine glasses and tumblers have glass inserts and BPA-free plastic, spill-proof lids with a gap for sipping—hold your complete factor within the freezer. Eleven colours to select from, together with a few enjoyable metallic choices. There’s a set made particularly for glowing wine. Individually, they’re a bit expensive ($29.95 for the flutes; $34.96 for the glasses and tumblers and $89.95 for the bottle chiller), however the reward set of the bottle chiller and two glasses is an effective deal at $125. Put it in your checklist for subsequent summer season’s hostess reward, a housewarming or bathe reward. Vinglacé donates a portion of gross sales to breast most cancers analysis.