If you aren’t already familiar with it, a wine aerator is a device you can pour your wine through to allow it to mix with the air and lighten the taste of your wine.  There are different styles of aerators and types for both white and red wines which allow more or less air flow.  Depending on your palate and your wine preferences you may benefit from having a wine aerator for just red or white or you may have use for one of each.

Types of Wine Aerators

Aerators can come in a few different styles.  There is the hand-help type of wine aerator which you hold over your glass and pour your wine through.  You can also get aerators that go directly in the bottle or fit right on top.  These different styles won’t affect the taste of your wine so the one you choose will just be a matter of what’s most convenient for you.  However, when choosing a wine aerator for either red or white wine, getting the appropriate model is important because the white wine aerator allows more air to flow through your wine and may not give the proper end result for a bolder red wine.

Alternatives to Wine Aerators

A wine aerator does the same job as using a decanter or just pouring a glass and letting it breathe.  While letting your wine breathe from a glass or decanter will have the same result as an aerator in mellowing the flavour, it will take much longer.  A decanter may take up to an hour to give your wine the perfect taste while a wine aerator takes only the few moments it takes you to pour a glass.  You can run the wine through your aerator a second time if needed, but be careful not to over-aerate your wine as it could give it a flat taste.

Why Use a Wine Aerator?

A wine aerator lightens the harsh, bitter flavours of the tannins in your wine so especially if you drink a lot of full-bodied reds, a wine aerator will come in handy.  Using the aerator will often give your wine a better bouquet and will enhance the flavours while reducing any bitter, overpowering tastes.  By using an aerator, you can pour and drink your wine immediately rather than waiting around to let it breathe.

While wine aerators can be used for any wine and would be used according to your own personal tastes, they’re often useful for young red wines in which the tannins haven’t had a chance to soften and mature.  For some wine, you may prefer the taste it offers poured directly from the bottle so have a taste of your wine before using your aerator as you may not need it for every bottle.  A wine aerator is an excellent item to have around if a particular bottle of wine doesn’t suit your tastes as is.