For some upscale travelers, the ultimate luxury vacations are to various "Wine Country" destinations. Napa Valley CA, Italy's Tuscany region, and nearly all of France are top choices for 5-star wine travel experiences. Now, wine experts aren't just blowing smoke when they stress the importance of letting red wine breathe. Aerating red wine allows the full flavor and aroma to come through – and a few seconds' worth of swishing the wine glass back and forth doesn't suffice.
Sommeliers and other wine aficionados agree that a minimum of 15 minutes is needed to properly let a red wine breathe. This number can extend up to an hour, and even longer for especially oaky varieties. On vacation, though, it just isn't efficient for wine lovers to sit around and wait an hour while their dinners get cold. Fortunately, there are a few wine aerators on the market, and Luxury Travel recently experimented with two that are a good travel size.
Vinturi
The Vinturi is a wine aerator that would pack moderately easily for a luxury trip. There is a plastic base, with a small glass and funnel. Because the funnel and glass are – obviously – made of glass, some care must be taken in packing the Vinturi. Once ready to use, though, it's very simple. Just hold the Vinturi about the empty wine glass, and pour the selected wine through the funnel. The Vinturi claims to draw in the right amount of air to oxygenate the red wine instantly through this pour.
Luxury Travel tested the Vinturi with a bottle of Miner Family syrah (vintage 1994) recently. Syrahs are a spicy, dark wine variety without much oakiness. The tested bottle of wine isn't new, so less tannic to begin with, and aerated well through the Vinturi. The difference between the glass that was "Vinturi-ed" and the glass of wine that was poured straight from the bottle was evident, though not striking. There is a version specifically for white wines, as well, but Luxury Travel did not try this version.
Philip Stein Wine Wand
The Wine Wand is a thing of beauty, but it sure doesn't look like it should work. A thin, hollow glass wand with tiny, loose crystals inside aerates wine? Surprisingly, yes. Using the same bottle as for the Vinturi (but new glasses), Luxury Travel followed the instructions: After pouring two glasses of the syrah, the wine wand was placed in one glass for a couple of minutes. The difference between the taste and smooth mouthfeel of the two glasses of red wine was very clear, and remarkable. The glass that had had the Wine Wand simply tasted much, much better. There are two versions of the Philip Stein Wine Wand, and the smaller one is perfect for travel. It needs no extra protection while packing, as it comes in a handsome hammered leather case – it looks something like a wide pen when in its container. It's easy to see how this lovely wine wand would fit right in at a luxury wine tasting event in one of the high-end wine destinations of the world.
Both the Vinturi and the Philip Stein Wine Wand work. The Vinturi, to its credit, is much more affordable (around $40 versus over $300 for the travel wand). However, it's bigger to pack, and requires a special wire brush to clean out the funnel – this can be annoying, and put a dent in the experience of a luxury vacation. The Philip Stein Wine Wand is a true luxury item, with the price point to match, but it travels better, and doesn't need any special cleaning apparatus. Luxury Travel believes it to aerate wine more fully, as well. Both would make excellent gifts for the wine loving luxury traveler.
Jennifer W. Miner - Jennifer has years of travel writing experience, spoken at several national conferences, and more. See Jendeavor.com for more details.
