Alcohol: Vacu Vin

June 23rd, 2008 No Comments

Vacu Vin wine savers are a virtual revolution in the wine industry. These little wonders allow people to open and enjoy bottles of wine, without feeling like they have to drink the whole bottle. This makes casual wine drinking a much more viable option for many who just like an occasional glass with dinner.

When wine comes in contact with air, it oxidizes. This oxidation is a process that fairly quickly causes wine to break down and essentially lose its flavor, or become off-tasting. Vacu Vin wine stoppers help alleviate this problem tremendously.

Vavu Vin wine savers are essentially specially designed rubber stoppers that you insert into an open bottle of wine. Then you use the patented Vacu Vin pump to extract all of the air out of the wine bottle. No air means no oxidation. No oxidation means that your wine will stay good for a much longer time, allowing to you have a glass or so without wasting a whole bottle.

Vacu Vin: Ending Oxidation, One Bottle at a Time
This innovative wine preservation system is about as simple, and easy to use as you can get. To top it all off, its inexpensive as well. You can get a Vacu Vin starter set for around $10. The set includes the pump and one stopper. You can buy additional stoppers (so you can try a multitude of bottles) for around $4 for two.

To the novice the wide world of wine accessories might seem overwhelming, maybe even esoteric. Nothing could be further from the truth. Wine is a drink that has been around for thousands of years, and its sole purpose is to bring joy to our lives. Wine is a magical drink, meant to be enjoyed with great friends. It was never meant to make people feel uneducated or insecure about their worldliness.

Probably the most confusing of the common wine accessories is the humble corkscrew. I dont think theres one beverage tool that has caused as much anxiety as this little device. This shouldnt be. For anyone whos the least bit unsure about uncorking a bottle of wine, I suggest you take a look at the new Rabbit corkscrews. These wonders make opening a bottle of wine exceptionally easy and stress free.

Next on the list of potentially confusing wine accessories come the all important wine rack. Now if you really only drink a couple of bottle of white wine every few months or so, you probably dont need a wine rack. If you generally keep at least three to six bottles of wine on hand at all times, you owe it to your wine to store it in a proper rack. Properly stored wine will last longer and taste better than wine that isnt stored correctly.

Wine Accessories: from the Inexpensive to the Very Expensive
You can find a decent, workable corkscrew for around five dollars if you just want to get the bottle open. Enjoying wine though, for many, is as much about the process as it is about the actual drinking. Having a nice wine rack, and a nice corkscrew, and wine labels all add to the overall experience of wine drinking.

In the world of red wine stain removal, Wine Away is a brand name that every host or hostess should be familiar with. This wonder liquid can lift red wine and cranberry stains right out of a fabric. This is a must-have item for parties and get-togethers where you plan to serve red wine.

Wine Away has been endorsed by a number of well-known magazines including Good Housekeeping, Food & Wine, First For Women, Gourmet, and In-Style. It is a non-toxic stain remover that is completely safe to use around children and animals. It is derived from fruit and vegetable extracts, and contains no bleach or phosphates.

You can find Wine Away in a variety of sizes, and depending on your red wine consumption you may opt for the larger or smaller bottle. You can find a 8oz bottle for around $5, or you can go with a larger 12oz bottle for around $7. As you can see, Wine Away isnt expensive, especially when compared with the costs of having a carpet or sofa professionally cleaned.

Always Keep a Bottle of Wine Away on Hand
I cannot stress this enough. You need to have a bottle of stain remover before the party starts. Stain removal is tricky business as it is, and allowing a stain to set while you go shopping for remover isnt a good idea. You can find Wine Away at well-stocked wine shops and online at wine accessory websites.

Wine bottle coolers are a great way to quickly get your whites to their optimal drinking temperature. These sophisticated devices are designed to super chill white wine in a matter of minutes, so that you dont have to wait the standard two hours that it takes to chill a white in your refrigerator. For wine lovers, proper temperature is a must.

White wine is generally served chilled, and theres good reason for this. White wine is quite often described as crisp or acidic to the taste, and chilling it, either in a refrigerator, or in one of a variety of wine bottle coolers, brings out its better qualities. White wine is generally young and not quite as flavor-layered as reds, and chilling it makes it more refreshing, much in the same way that soft drinks and juice taste better chilled.

The most common misnomer when it comes to white wine is that it should be as cold as possible. That may be true for vodka, but not white wine. If you plan on just keeping your whites in the refrigerator, youll need to let them warm up a bit before you drink them. Over-chilled wine loses all nuance and character. If youre spending $15 or more on a bottle of wine, you want to be able to taste it at its optimal temperature.

Wine Bottle Coolers Are Great Gifts for Wine Lovers
Wine bottle coolers are generally the one thing that most wine lovers still dont have. Its not that theyre that expensive, you can find a nice Vin Chilla model for around $50. Most people just dont realize how handy these devices can be. The time spent waiting for a wine to chill or warm up can be greatly reduced with a wine cooler, and it can help ensure that wine is enjoyed at its optimal temperature.

If you have a significant wine collection, and you of course have them racked properly, you may want to look into purchasing wine bottle tags. These professional-grade tags make wine identification a snap, and they can add to the connoisseur look and feel of your wine collection. They can also help you avoid disturbing your more fragile wines.

Wine bottle tags are small tags that are designed to fit around the neck of a bottle of wine. On a properly stored wine bottle, i.e. one thats in a wine rack, the tag will hang down, and you can write the wines pertinent information on the tag. This makes finding a specific bottle of wine exceptionally easy.

Theres good reason for storing wine in a rack. Storing wine horizontally helps insure that the cork stays moist, and thus that theres a good seal on the wine. Wine can quickly spoil when exposed to air, and it behooves the wine lover to store it properly. Wine is also stored horizontally so that the sediment can settle, and the wine can age properly.

Wine Bottle Tags Keep Wine from Being Disturbed
Wine tags help keep wine where its supposed to be, viz. laying flat on their sides. When you pull wine out of the rack to check on it, you risk disturbing the sediment and affecting the aging process. On top of that, its just inconvenient to have to pull out several bottles to find the one youre looking for. You can find good, plastic, reusable wine bottle tags for around $12 for a package of 100 tags.