We live in an impatient age. We suddenly decide we want to drink a bottle that has been lying on its side. There's not enough time for all the sediment to settle peacefully at the bottom of an upright bottle. And anyway, are you that good at decanting? I know I'm not.
I am thrilled therefore by my new, well-designed, stainless steel wine funnel from Screwpull. It is lined with a particularly fine, apparently durable mesh which fits neatly in to the funnel and can be taken out easily for cleaning – although you have to pour quite slowly in order to avoid spillage. So if you have no hang-ups about having to do it all yourself with sheer dexterity and forward planning, this wine funnel could easily pay for itself within an (expensive) bottle or two by providing you with more sediment-free wine to drink. I can detect no harmful effects on the taste of the wine. It costs about £28, $35 and 45 euro. In the UK you can email [email protected] and in the US call 1-877-CREUSET to enquire about your local stockists. In the UK is it stocked by Debenhams, Harrods, House of Fraser, they claim. The company is planning to beef up its websites www.screwpull.co.uk and www.screwpull.com next year (who isn't?) so that you can buy it online.
A cheaper, silver-plated version is available from Waiter's Friend (tel +44 (0)1483 560695, www.winegiftcentre.com) at just £12.95 but I am slightly worried about the possibility of the silver plating reacting with the wine and the mesh of the filter is definitely not as fine as that of the Screwpull counterpart above. I tried pouring a bottle of crusted port first through the Waiter's Friend filter and then through the Screwpull one and the Screwpull mesh managed to trap quite a few particles that the other mesh had allowed through. This company also offers a larger, mesh-lined funnel at £17.50 which is designed to aerate the wine too, but I'd have thought you could do that yourself by jiggling the decanter about.
Stop press: Have just tried out the relative funnel trick comparing this, finer meshed version with the Screwpull funnel and Screwpull still wins.
The other new wine-related accessory du moment I am less certain about. Riedel gives us a stream of new glassware – the carefully researched special Speyside malt glass, the Beaujolais Nouveau glass, etc. Now comes, the black glass. The Blind Blind glass is completely opaque, made from black glass in the popular Chianti Classico shape, the company's 'best all-rounder'. Its purpose is to inflict total disorientation on the blind taster so that he or she has no clue even whether the wine is red, white or pink. Thus, the taster truly is blind as well as clueless. I suppose you could give it to the wine lover in your life as a joke present, though the price of £40 per stem puts it rather out of most people's range as a mere plaything. The true sadist (or masochist) can order these objects from www.wineware.co.uk or visit www.riedel.com for more details.
A cheaper, silver-plated version is available from Waiter's Friend (tel +44 (0)1483 560695, www.winegiftcentre.com) at just £12.95 but I am slightly worried about the possibility of the silver plating reacting with the wine and the mesh of the filter is definitely not as fine as that of the Screwpull counterpart above. I tried pouring a bottle of crusted port first through the Waiter's Friend filter and then through the Screwpull one and the Screwpull mesh managed to trap quite a few particles that the other mesh had allowed through. This company also offers a larger, mesh-lined funnel at £17.50 which is designed to aerate the wine too, but I'd have thought you could do that yourself by jiggling the decanter about.
Stop press: Have just tried out the relative funnel trick comparing this, finer meshed version with the Screwpull funnel and Screwpull still wins.
The other new wine-related accessory du moment I am less certain about. Riedel gives us a stream of new glassware – the carefully researched special Speyside malt glass, the Beaujolais Nouveau glass, etc. Now comes, the black glass. The Blind Blind glass is completely opaque, made from black glass in the popular Chianti Classico shape, the company's 'best all-rounder'. Its purpose is to inflict total disorientation on the blind taster so that he or she has no clue even whether the wine is red, white or pink. Thus, the taster truly is blind as well as clueless. I suppose you could give it to the wine lover in your life as a joke present, though the price of £40 per stem puts it rather out of most people's range as a mere plaything. The true sadist (or masochist) can order these objects from www.wineware.co.uk or visit www.riedel.com for more details.
A cheaper, silver-plated version is available from Waiter's Friend (tel +44 (0)1483 560695, www.winegiftcentre.com) at just £12.95 but I am slightly worried about the possibility of the silver plating reacting with the wine and the mesh of the filter is definitely not as fine as that of the Screwpull counterpart above. I tried pouring a bottle of crusted port first through the Waiter's Friend filter and then through the Screwpull one and the Screwpull mesh managed to trap quite a few particles that the other mesh had allowed through. This company also offers a larger, mesh-lined funnel at £17.50 which is designed to aerate the wine too, but I'd have thought you could do that yourself by jiggling the decanter about.
Stop press: Have just tried out the relative funnel trick comparing this, finer meshed version with the Screwpull funnel and Screwpull still wins.
The other new wine-related accessory du moment I am less certain about. Riedel gives us a stream of new glassware – the carefully researched special Speyside malt glass, the Beaujolais Nouveau glass, etc. Now comes, the black glass. The Blind Blind glass is completely opaque, made from black glass in the popular Chianti Classico shape, the company's 'best all-rounder'. Its purpose is to inflict total disorientation on the blind taster so that he or she has no clue even whether the wine is red, white or pink. Thus, the taster truly is blind as well as clueless. I suppose you could give it to the wine lover in your life as a joke present, though the price of £40 per stem puts it rather out of most people's range as a mere plaything. The true sadist (or masochist) can order these objects from www.wineware.co.uk or visit www.riedel.com for more details.
