Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/06/12/the-wake-up-wine-pro-decants-a.html
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Ummmmm decanting wine without a machine takes way less than 10 minutes.
The whole point of a decanter is that is aerates wine faster than just sitting it out. I used to do formal, fine dining decanter service. Fancy side table, special towels, $5k bottle of wine, shine a candle through it and everything. The whole god damn, show offy production didn’t take 10 minutes.
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Wine snobs will insist that, yes, it is unceremonious, but putting wine in a blender will do the job just fine.
Have you heard the same?
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It horrifies wine people, but pouring the wine into a blender and whizzing it a couple of times (basically what this thing does) aerates it as well as leaving the bottle open for an hour - and doesn’t hurt the wine at all.
And it’s much cheaper than this machine.
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I’m holding out for the smartphone-controlled decanter/speaker/bidet model.
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Yeah. Done it with a stick blender. Work’s great. Like wise just about any bottle of wine can be vastly improved by pouring half a glass out, sticking your thumb over the neck and shaking it like it did something wrong.
Problem is these will stir up sediment, and with the blender produce something akin to paint. So it can’t be done with the older bottles that actually need decanting (rather than just getting a kick in the pants from it). Hence decanters are still useful.
Though you can pour them off the sediment first, come to think of it.
I was professional wine people for a long time. And I was advocating that before anyone else had noticed it.
It horrifies rich white people. Or white people who want you to think they’re rich at least.
Works a trick.
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I use a $3 IKEA milk frother. Makes a nifty pink foam; once the foam dissipates (or even before!) you’re ready to go.
I have a hypothesis: is it possible that aerating wine is less about getting air into the wine than about getting some (aerosolized) wine into the air? Most of our tasting is done by the nose, after all…
Edit: Having read a few other responses, I should clarify: I use the frother in glasses that have already been poured; slow and careful pouring (of a bottle that’s been allowed to rest, and not jostled in the opening) takes care of all but the finest sediment.
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Best way to make wine taste better is to decant it before serving into that empty bottle of 1982 Grand Cru Bordeaux you keep around for the purpose.
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Coke for breakfast!
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If you’re drinking the cheap stuff you can just smash the neck against the curb you’re currently laying in.
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Pour a few ounces into the decanter. Re-cork the bottle, shake vigorously, pour the rest of it into the decanter. Swirl. Let it sit for ten minutes.
There, I just saved you some money and a bit of counter space.
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Or, if you want to impress your friends with your nerd prowess, purchase a magnetic stirrer at a surplus auction. Mere pennies on the dollar with all the laboratory chic you can imagine. Invest in a new teflon-coated magnet though… no telling what the last one was in.
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Wine for when you wake up, is that the idea? Like Peewee Herman’s breakfast machine? Does it set a timer or ?
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Doesn’t the wine get bruised? 
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Third glass of wine always tastes good. I recommend having two full glasses before your wine appreciation begins.
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What is the reason for this?
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No, just offended.
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1 - open the bottle
2 - pour yourself a snick*
3 - put the bottle in the fridge
4 - cook dinner
5 - put the bottle on the table
6 - serve dinner
7 - pour wine
by the time you get to 7 the wine will have aerated itself and be ready to enjoy, no need for bullshit gadgets of idiotic blender brutality. works equally well for red and white wines.
- snick: term coined by my grandmother and the best description for a snack sized pour of wine
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If drinking was meant to be this hard, it wouldn’t be done so well by such a bunch of drunks.
[Present company excluded.]
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A light behind the bottle lets you see the sediment through the glass and wine even if it’s red wine in a dark bottle. Especially in a dark dining room. That way you can control the speed of the pour, and know when to stop, to keep the sediment in the bottle while getting the maximum amount of wine out .
It’s probably unnecessary in a well lit room. But it is a part of formal wine service. It’s kind of an etiquette thing, bit like the proscribed order for silverware at a table setting. You aren’t doing it properly without the candle.
Contrary to the usual story it’s the act of pouring the wine into the decanter that removes the sediment and does most of the aeration.
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