Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator

I just picked up a gadget that I thought might be just gim-crackery, but is actually a very nice tool when serving young or tannic wines. The Vinturi quickly adds air to your wine as you pour it into the glass, speeding up the "breathing" process and opening up fruit (and softening tannins) similar to 15 to 30 minutes of time in the glass or a decanter, with no waiting. Elegant design, does what it is advertised to do, easy to clean and comes with a nifty storage base, too. Not a miracle, but in a back-to-back comparison with and without the Vinturi on a freshly opened bottle of a young and tannic Volver Tempranillo (2005), it did significantly improve the flavor and nose. Of course, given time, the glass that didn't go through the Vinturi eventually opened up and tasted the same (after about 20 minutes). The Vinturi doesn't change the basic character of the wine; with patience, you'd be enjoying the same improvements that come naturally from exposure to air in the glass. But it does speed up the process and helps in maximizing the value of any particular wine.

If you liked your new toy, you might enjoy this vid of the fabulous Gary Vanyerchuk.
http://tv.winelibrary.com/2007/07/12/cl ... isode-274/

Also, a result regarding Vinturi

http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/sho ... ht=vinturi
In other posts, the Vinturi does get some love. Hope you enjoy it.

I purchased one a week ago as a Christmas present for my father off of Amazon. I contemplated giving it a test run myself, but I guess I'll have to wait and hear about it from him.