This is going to sound like a lot of nonsense, but the Wine Witch recommends getting one of these gadgets – especially if you like red wine and are on a budget.
I came across this quite by accident. Being a dedicated internet shopper you can well imagine the amount of catalogs that come to my door. One of them is Herrington which has a real mixed bag of stuff. Anyway, I was paging through around the holidays and of course anything that references wine catches my eye.
The spiel was that you attach this thing to neck of the bottle and just pour. The magnets (warning they are strong) would soften the tannins and aerate the wine – not unlike decanting. I was about to turn the page when I saw a testimonial from a former editor of Food and Wine who also runs a famous California wine festival. I figure he would not risk his reputation too far, no matter what they might be paying him, so I decided to take a chance. Heck, it was only $35 bucks.
So the thing arrives and I want to test it fairly and not let the claims influence me. I arranged a little experiment with our grown sons and their wives. We bought two bottles of Yellow Tail Pinot Noir – basic everyday red under $10. Put the collar on one and not the other. Everyone got two paper cups (don’t cringe – this was an experiment) with an X on the bottom of the one holding the wine from the collar bottle. Since I poured, I knew which was which.
We sipped, we pondered, and we sipped again. It was uncanny, but everyone one of us picked out the wine from the collar bottle. It was smoother and rounder – all the edges disappeared. The best way to describe the effect was it made a less than $10 bottle of wine taste closer to a $15-20 bottle. Not bad – I figured it pays for itself after 4 bottles.
Not sure if magnetic wine collars are widely available. If all else fails, you find Herrington online. Take a chance – the Wine Witch thinks you will be pleasantly surprised.
Cheers!
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Magnets seem to soften anything they come in contact with. The are used in acupuncture, water treatment, and food. I have found relief from aches and pains with strong magnets, and noticed a change in the taste of tap water.
Hi,
Moments before I came to your site, I ordered the wine collar from Herrington.
I still thought how could this really be tue, but I was so happy to read your
column. What timing? I plan to have a few friends sample wines from Charles Shaw on up. The collar should come in a week or so. I look forward to giving it a try.
Linda
Linda,
Thanks for your comment. Please let me know if you have the same results.
Suzie
[...] first two items were covered in previous posts: the magentic wine collar found at http://winewitch.net/wine-musings/105/magnetic-wine-collar-make-your-two-buck-chuck-taste-like-a-res… ; and, the ideal picnic wine glasses found at [...]