Back when I was starting off on the wine-drinking caper I was inclined to be dismissive of concepts like breathing, which probably sounds like heresy, but there's only so much room for improvement in a flagon of McWilliams Burgundy. We moved upmarket from there, of course, but still, when you're quaffing the products of places that operate on an industrial scale and aim at the bulk end of the market in an environment where the effect is as important as the actual taste you're likely to ascribe the improvement in the glass to the Mental As Anything Nips Are Getting Bigger principle.
You know the one, the more you drink the larger the measures and the better it tastes.
Having finally reached the point where we've left that end of the market behind, however, 'Er Indoors and I have come to the conclusion that, yes, this breathing thing actually works the way they say it does, but there are difficulties, largely based around whether you can pre-plan your afternoon or evening's consumption.
That's straightforward when it's just the two of us, but if Angry or Warbo and the Dragon Lady lob on the doorstep complications develop with alarming rapidity. For a start they invariably arrive with a bottle which they may or may not insist that I open there and then.
Under those circumstances you tend to be wary of opening a decent bottle of red well in advance of the advertised arrival time because you may not actually be getting to it that afternoon. An encounter with Jimbo on the morning walk some two months ago put paid to those concerns in one fell swoop. Prior to the encounter I'd already seen, heard and tasted the results of a Vinturi Wine Aerator, and the experience had inflicted unexpected pain on the credit card, so I was familiar with the concept.
The Houghton C.W. Ferguson is several notches above what Jimbo and I usually sample, so I was interested in his impressions. I had a birthday in the offing, and was in a position to be afford the odd extravagance, particularly if it was going to add to the enjoyment of a glass.
The response was along the lines of, yes, it definitely makes a difference and takes the rough edges off an el cheapo red and the result is an enhancement in the wine’s bouquet, flavour across the palate and finish. An order was placed and the little devil arrived via courier with appropriate rapidity.
We've done the regulation experimental procedure several times since then, first because we wanted to see the difference for ourselves and subsequently because we've had company and wanted to show off a bit. One such occasion coincided with Angry arriving with a bottle of Hanwood Merlot which he was most insistent on opening had a bit to do with it, but if you've got something like a Vinturi you might as well flaunt it.
So we've had three or four occasions where a bottle has been opened, a control half glass poured, and a similar quantity Vinturi'd for whoever happens to be in the vicinity. The invariable response has been along the lines outlined above, so for my money this is a device worth trying, or at least considering as a birthday or Christmas present for someone who you know is a wine drinker.
So how, I hear you ask in your relentless search for knowledge, does it work? Well it's rather simple, really, all that's involved is a simple application of the Bernoulli principle, which you're doubtless familiar with from your High School physics.
Oh, yeah, I hear you say, me and Bernoulli's Principle were like that back in the day...
In any case, it works using some of the same principles that automotive engineers use designing racing cars to take advantage of differences in wind speed above and below the car. The same principles also apply inside the engines.
But I digress.
The Vinturi is an application of the Venturi effect (Vinturi/Venturi geddit?) and the device is a funnel with two narrow holes drilled at right angles to the apex of the upside down not quite triangular funnel. The wine goes in the top, the curvature inside creates a vortex as it makes its way through the funnel and the vortex draws the oxygen in to aerate the wine, take off the rough edges, smooth the tannins and deliver an all-round better drinking experience.
Mileages, of course, may vary, but we've had 100% agreement that the thing works. You might not need one if you've got a cellar full of properly matured Grange that's reached the optimal drinking window, but for us lesser mortals it's a gadget that's definitely worth a look.
The slurping sound as the wine goes through is, of course, an added bonus.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011