The Globe and Mail

The Vinturi Wine Aerator, Travel Edition

Take your insane wine obsession – sorry, connoisseurship – to the next level with a Vinturi Wine Aerator Travel Edition.

You’ve heard of aerators? Essentially glorified funnels, they are designed to agitate wine as it pours out of the bottle and into the glass, accelerating the fluid’s mixture with air. Air contact can soften astringent tannins and “open up” a wine’s flavours. Most wines can benefit from it.

The leading Vinturi brand, which makes the most attractive design, has added a slim, portable edition. Tuck it into a breast pocket and take your blind-taste-test magic show on the road (hold the funnel over each glass and pour). Dinner parties! Office parties! The local Legion hall! It’s made of acrylic and comes with a hard-shell case. Suggested list price: $49.95. Available at Rosehill Wine Cellars and the Pepper Mill in Toronto (wine-aerator.ca).