If you’re like me, you have a lot of sweatshops, white slavery rings and brothels to manage all across the globe as part of your international criminal conspiracy, and thus spend a lot of time in hotels, airplanes and brothels. This makes enjoying a properly decanted bottle of wine difficult, since most restaurants don’t know what a decanter is (“I can’t what, now?”) and it’s not exactly easy to travel with one in your luggage, for use in the hotel or brothel.
Enter the pocket venturi, a gadget which aerates wine as you pour through it, by spinning the wine in a tiny chamber featuring holes which suck air in as the wine passes. I’m fond of the dirt cheap Venturi Essential Wine Aerator, which runs a meager $27 on Amazon, and comes with a sturdy stand to sit it on when not in use.
Now, whether the Vinturi works as advertised seems to be up for grabs. Bon Apetit ran a blind flight test to see what effect the Vinturi had, and they agreed that it was changing the wine, but not always for the better. In my own experience, done simply by comparing a glass run through the Vinturi against one not, there was a noticeable change, and for the wines I tested it regularly improved the wine, with no noticeable negative effect. (Bon Apetit also complains about the noise the Vinturi makes, which is a squishy, bubbly squeak as air is sucked into the chamber, but I love it, as it seems oddly satisfying and always makes the workers at the sweatshop or brothel giggle.)
There’s also a trick: if you feel the Vinturi has added too much air, you can run a second glass and place a finger over one of the two aerator holes, thus reducing the air intake by 50%. If you encounter a wine where the Vinturi doesn’t work at all, simply pour that second glass without the Vinturi… problem solved. Unlike full bottle aerators, you aren’t committed.
Clearly the Vinturi is not suited for all wines, and is no replacement for an on-hand decanter. But if you are a traveler, it’s a fine close second, and when used smartly — only for wines you suspect it will open up — it’s a great, low cost addition to your toolkit.
