Alder Yarrow 
YEARLY HOLIDAY PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE: Please don't even think about buying a wine aerator as a gift this year. Wine Aerators: $336.9 Million Worth of Bullsh*t https://www.vinography.com/2021/03/wine-aerators-336-9-million-worth-of-bullsht via @vinography
Wine Aerators: $336.9 Million Worth of Bullsh*t : Vinography

It's practically criminal that these plastic pieces of junk continue to be purchased. They prey on insecurity, are bad for the planet, and generally just suck.

Vinography
Nov 25, 2022 at 10:47pmWeb
Show threadThad Nov 25, 2022

@vinography What other gifts are wine b*llsh*t?

Can we start a list …

I nominate any of those wands/drops/etc. that claim to remove sulfites.

Show threadAlder Yarrow Nov 26, 2022
@thad_ccws oh yes. And wine chilling devices, most fancy decanters, the list goes on.
Show threadThad Nov 26, 2022
@vinography About decanters, had a customer on Wednesday purchase some #Bordeaux and was asking about decanting. They didn’t have a decanter and I told them to use anything they could find … big Mason Jar, juice carafe, water pitcher, whatever because using a fancy decanter was mostly for show. They asked if we were sure, I told them that we used a water pitcher almost every time we needed to decant something in the Shop (b/c most of the time, I’m decanting and pouring it back in the bottle, a pitcher w/ spout = easier pouring).
Show threadAlder Yarrow Nov 26, 2022
@thad_ccws YES!!!!!! This 10000% best decanter in the universe? The lemonade pitcher! Has a handle, easy to pour, you can get your arm in it to clean, and if you drop it on the floor, you can replace for $20!!!! Down with twisty-crystal scale models of the small intestine!
Show threadPatrick Nov 26, 2022
@vinography @thad_ccws
The millenary Porró, Catalonia's contribution to wine aeration
#wineculture #Porron #CatNation
Show threadMeg MakerNov 26, 2022
@vinography @thad_ccws And not only do they sell you the decanter, they sell you *accessories* for the decanter — twisty cleaner wands, cleaning beads, drying stand, decanter stand, blah blah blah $$$.
Show threadSarah May Nov 26, 2022
@megmaker @vinography @thad_ccws the amount I hate wine tools and gimmicky shit my family gets suckered into buying me because they lack creativity. Just buy me that wine I haven't dared to buy myself.
Show threadThad Nov 26, 2022
@sarahmayg @megmaker @vinography I think being in retail has avoided some of those gifts … because I can get the stuff cheaper, if I want it.
Show threadSarah May Nov 26, 2022
@thad_ccws @megmaker @vinography that's makes sense. I got a Coravin once, it's still in the box. I should sell it.
Show threadAlex Bardsley Nov 26, 2022
@megmaker @vinography @thad_ccws Reminds me I have six decanters at work that need Efferdenting.
Show threadSarah May Nov 26, 2022
@vinography @thad_ccws Ikea pitcher for me. Although I do have to say as a person with mobility issues in the hands and wrists those fancy electric bottle openers are great.
Show threadMarkus Wine Co.Nov 26, 2022
@thad_ccws @vinography Amen! We use those cheap plastic beer pitchers - like from pizza parlors - for handling wine samples, decanting, and transferring 750's to 375's. Definitely the way to go. And *bonus* they actually have a spout. A spout! You'd think a decanter designer could at least push down on the edge of molten glass to form a spout!?!
Show threadSLBriscoeNov 26, 2022
@thad_ccws @vinography can we add on the unnecessary ones too? Like yet ANOTHER corkscrew/bottle opener or varietal specific wine glasses….
Show threadAlder Yarrow Nov 26, 2022
@SLBriscoe @thad_ccws oh yes, don’t forget EVEN BIGGER wine glasses. If yours don’t get bigger every year, you’re missing out on what wine has to offer!
Show threadThad Nov 26, 2022
@vinography @SLBriscoe And, you need more wine glass charms for those bigger glasses … what’s this year’s theme for them?
Show threadSLBriscoeNov 26, 2022
@thad_ccws @vinography oh right…I think it’d be something like NFT charms 🙄
Show threadSLBriscoeNov 26, 2022
@vinography @thad_ccws double extra points if it has a cheeky comment engraved “Dr. Says I need glasses” etc 🙄
Show threadEmilieH🥂Nov 26, 2022
@vinography I’d be too scared to try myself but didn’t some reports say that you can aerate with a blender? I can only imagine that a simple egg beater or whisk can beat a ton of air into wines
Show threadAlder Yarrow Nov 26, 2022
@EmilieH so called “hyper-decanting” is the wine equivalent of cooking your steak with a jet engine. Can you do it? Yes. Worth the trouble of brutalizing your beverage? No. If wine is going to improve with air, pouring it out of a bottle into another vessel and then back into the same bottle gives it pretty much all the air it needs, especially if you do that an hour or two before you are gonna drink.
Show threadEmilieH🥂Nov 26, 2022
@vinography Yes. That is what I do now. But have always wondered about using an egg whisk.
Show threadAlder Yarrow Nov 26, 2022
@EmilieH it won’t do anything that vigorously swirling the bottle or decanter will do.
Show threadEmilieH🥂Nov 26, 2022
@vinography I imagine but am too afraid to try to use a blender or an egg whisk. And as you said, why bother doing it when there is a perfectly acceptable way of aerating wine (as you described).
Show threadDaniel ReesNov 26, 2022
@vinography @EmilieH is it worth opening a cheaper bottle of wine early to “let it breath” (or decanting it) - I’m thinking a $20 Bordeaux or something. Or is that just a myth?
Show threadAlder Yarrow Nov 26, 2022
@dan @EmilieH no way to know except to try. Will depend on the individual wine. Opening it two hours before drinking isn’t going to magically make a cheap wine taste much better as a rule. But a little air will generally help most red wines. And by a little I don’t mean proper decanting I mean opening a bottle and pouring half a glass about 30 minutes before you’re going to drink.
Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenNov 30, 2022
@vinography Would leaving it in an open glass for 30min change the flavour of red wine if you're cooking with it? Or the flavour gets boiled away anyway and it doesn't matter?
Show threadAlder Yarrow Nov 30, 2022
@thespoonless cooking changes the wine enough that aeration won’t matter.
Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 3, 2023
@vinography That's what I thought, thanks.
Show threadWineUncorkedUKNov 27, 2022
@vinography I use a Stowells of Chelsea glass decanter I bought second-hand in a charity shop about 25 years ago for a couple of pounds. I know one day I'll break it but until then I enjoy seeing that out-of-date logo.
Show threadJeff BurrowsDec 1, 2022
@vinography Yes! along w/ 99% of wine gadgets