Gadget Review: Aermate Wine Aerator

I’ve never been a big wine drinker, more of a spirits guy myself, if at all, so you might be wondering why I would agree to review an item like the Aermate Wine Aerator. The aerator trend has been picking up steam over the last few years. Once a tool known only to wine enthusiasts, now it can be found in the home goods aisle at your local Target. Maybe it’s a tool that has found its time or maybe it’s a marketing push by the wine industry to get us all to drink more. Who knows? All I know is I couldn’t take the bite and aftertaste of nearly every wine I tried, so if this could help, I’m willing to toss one or two back.

The Aermate Wine Aerator takes a different path than many of the other aerators on the market. With many, you pour the wine through the device into another container, then re-pour and enjoy, whereas the Aermate allows you to keep your wine in place and spruce it up right after yanking the cork. You plunge the stainless steel pole down to the bottom of the bottle (or into the bottom of your glass if you want) and give the bulb at the top the correct number of squeezes, which differs by the amount of wine and your own tastes. Each squeeze pushes air through the patented nozzle at the bottom and releases microbubbles, thereby releasing the hidden flavors in the wine.

Think of it this way: People say you need to let wine breathe. With aeration, you’re helping it to hyperventilate.

I’m actually a great subject to try this out since I normally don’t like wine to begin with so I was very interested to see if the taste would swing so much as to be palatable. My wife and I tried with a bottle of blush and a bottle of white (not on the same night, you lushes). White wine has usually been too bite-y for me and while the Aermate did knock that effect down, the lingering aftertaste was still there and I remain no big fan. Then came the blush, which was no big thrill to begin with, but after a couple of infusions from the Aermate I was shocked to find it incredibly tasty. The fruity background in the wine came raging to the front and the sweetness was delectable.

It was immediately clear that this was going to be the only way I drink wine from here on out.

The company also says the Aermate can be used on spirits like scotch, bourbon and tequila. While I haven’t tried it yet, I don’t at all doubt it will have a noticeable effect. If that effect is as good with those as it is with the blush, my following reviews are likely to be completely incoherent.

For $39.95 you can pick one of these up here. Try it for yourself and do a blind taste test with friends. You’ll know which one is which and I wager you’ll pick the Aermate glass to finish off.