One of the things I love about wine is its beautiful, fresh aromatics. Nosing a great wine and taking in the symphony of aromas is immensely enjoyable. Unfortunately, many wines, especially many red wines, don’t have that symphony of aromas right out of the bottle—they need to be unlocked. Air is the key to unlocking aromas in wine; it is both best friend and strongest foe to wine. While you want air to unlock or “open up” a wine, too much air can actually oxidize a wine, robbing it of the very aromas you’re trying to unlock. It can also change the flavor, giving it an overly acidic or even nutty flavor.

There are a number of ways to introduce air into wine. One of the most common ways people introduce air into wine is to swirl the wine around in the glass. While this is a good way to quickly introduce some air for tasting wine, it works very poorly for a full glass of wine. The more traditional way to introduce air into wine is to transfer the wine from a bottle to a decanter. Decanters basically spread out wine so more of it is exposed to air. Decanters are great for parties or dinners where you know you are going to consume a full bottle of wine, but they aren’t especially useful when you want to pour just one or two glasses.

When it comes to wine and spirits, I tend not to be much of a gadget guy. There are so many unnecessary gadgets that do nothing to improve your drinking experience. That’s why I was a little skeptical about the Vinturi, a small device which you pour wine through to aerate it. The Vinturi looks a little like an airplane jet engine turned on its side, and when you pour wine through it, the Vinturi makes a whooshing, gurgling noise. The results, though, are unmistakable. The Vinturi succeeds in getting just the right amount of air in your glass to open things up without over oxidizing your wine. The Vinturi also has a mesh screen inside that traps sediment so it doesn’t end up in your glass.

It’s important to note that the Vinturi is really designed to aerate red wine; while they do have a model for white wine, it’s important NOT to aerate a chilled wine. Chilled white wine is very sensitive to over oxidization and the negative impact of the oxidization shows relatively quickly as it warms.

The Vinturi is a great way to give your glass of wine a quick breath of air, especially if you are only looking to pour a glass or two.