Airtender Wine Aerator and Wine Saver - A20

Air as Friend - the Airtender Wine Aerator. First, let’s start with an explanation of “open” and “closed” as it’s used in the world of wine. This is the best (and most accessible) discussion of this that we have seen, from the Blog section of the Cameron Hughes Wine website (www.blog.chwine.com).

“You’ve most likely heard the term “letting the wine open up” at some point in your wine journey.  Opening a wine requires oxygen to interact with the juice that has been under cork and in cellar for any period of time. Whether by way of decanting, or letting the wine breathe in the bottle, these processes assist in the wine opening up.  An open wine shows its full potential in the bouquet, across the palate, and all the way through the finish.  You must be mindful and careful with opening older wines as they tend to open fast, and if they are highly vintaged, can turn over from open to over-the-hill in a matter of an hour or two.

As much as you’ve heard about open wines, you may have heard about closed wines.  A closed wine is the exact opposite of an open wine.  The wine is restrained, nervous, subdued, tight, and well…closed off.  A wine is most likely closed when it is too young, just bottled, incurred bottle shock from traveling, and/or being over handled.  Closed wines don’t give off much in the nose, seem thin on flavor across the palate, and can have little or no finish.  Just because a wine is closed doesn’t mean it’s a bad or off bottle.  It just means you need to cellar the remaining bottles longer, use a decanter and/or aerator to assist in opening it up if you want or need to enjoy now ....”

Now that we know a little more about a closed wine, we can understand how air really can enhance a bottle of wine. So what’s the best way to make that match between air and wine and have some level of control over just how much time they spend together? There is a newish concept called micro-aeration which introduces tiny bubbles of air into a wine glass or bottle (think of it as speed dating for your wine). These bubbles interact with the wine very quickly and open the flavors and bouquet of the wine almost immediately. This may sound like you need some expensive large piece of equipment to do this, but that’s where the the folks at Airtender really came up with a great solution.

The Airtender Aerator is a compact pump with a removable wand that fits into an eyeglass case and can go with you anywhere. To operate, you simply put the wand into the end of the pump, put the tip of the wand in your glass or bottle, and then pump once, twice, or maybe 3 times,  depending upon the wine (age, varietal, etc), the size of the pour, or whether it’s in a glass or a bottle. You decide--you have complete control, and your results may vary. 

When you pump, you can see the micro bubbles in the glass so you know it’s working. Another advantage of doing this is that you can have some idea of what the wine will taste like when it has a little age on it, so it helps you make a decision about whether to buy more of that wine to hold and let age naturally. And think how this will help you to mix a cocktail!

Air as a Foe - the Airtender Wine Saver: On the other hand, too much air introduced to a wine you have opened, partially consumed, and then plan to drink in a day or more, can take that wine over the hill and make it much less enjoyable when you pour a glass later in the week. And there are times when you want a glass of wine, but not a whole bottle; but why should you deprive yourself or waste the rest of the wine? Once again, Airtender comes to the rescue with their Wine Saver. Vaccuum pumps like the Wine Saver have been on the market for awhile. The basic concept is that you put a special stopper in the opened bottle of wine and then pump out as much of the air as possible to minimize the wine/air contact. What makes the Airtender Wine Saver special? There are a few things:

• First and foremost: it works really well and keeps your wine fresh longer
• You get an audible "click" signal when you have extracted as much air out of the bottle as possible
• Because it is a truly airtight seal, you can store your bottle on its side: not necessarily upright
• If you do stand your bottle upright, the stopper itself takes up almost no headroom: it’s easier to find a place for it in your refrigerator
• You can always tell that the seal is working because the top of the stopper is visibly compressed
• The stoppers are smaller, so they take up less space lounging in your drawer when they aren’t working in your bottle.

In short, these wine tools from Airtender work well, look good, are compact, and everyone who enjoys wine will probably want one of each of these, so they also make great gifts. They both are Cool Tools, for sure!

Facts:

• Made in The Netherlands
• 5 Year Warranty
• Wine Aerator
• Pump: ~6”/15cm long, 1.25”/1cm diameter; Wand:5.75”/14.6cm long, .2”/.5cm diameter
• You control the addition of air for aeration, aromas and flavors of wine and cocktails
• Aerate your drinks by glass or bottle.
• Plastic wine pump with stainless steel aeration wand. 
• Dishwasher safe
• Wine Saver
• Pump: ~6”/15cm long, 1.25”/1cm diameter
• 3 Stoppers included
• Pump provides a signal at the correct vacuum level. The vacuum stopper has a visible vacuum indicator and fits under the screw cap.
• BPA and BPS free.
• CO2 Friendly Produced Using sustainable and recyclable materials.