I’m guessing that your friends/relatives/loved ones didn’t follow my previous advice on what to get you for the holidays, so in this video I offer up two excellent wine gadgets to buy with the money you get from returning whatever crappy, single-purpose, never-gonna-use-‘em wine gizmos you received. You’re welcome ;-).
Mentioned in this episode:
- The Torkscrew Corkscrew
- Vacu Vin Rapid Ice Wine Chiller
- Fight Club (because it’s totally friggin’ awesome)
Cheers!
Hi Joe,
Re: your contribution in The Juice, you may want to look into the well-established and documented history of Limoux, in the south of France. I have not done factual verification myself but I have been told multiple times that the locals have found the recipe for sparkling wine on ancient Roman tablets in archeological digs of local Roman villas. The story goes that Dom Perignon learned of the recipe as he crossed over from Spain on his way up to Champagne. Again, I am not a historian, so I am not 100% certain of the veracity of these stories.
Let me know if you are able to investigate and verify – or prove me wrong.
Thank you for your time.
Thanks, Fabrice – I didn't know about that Roman connection but it is fascinating stuff! The Juice Quiz was more a question about one of the possible explanations (I am sure that there are dozens) for the genesis of intentionally creating Champagne (i.e., turning wine from Champagne in France fizzy), but I might look into the Roman connection for a future 1WD article. Cheers!
I should add that I would be VERY surprised if the Dom part of that Limoux tale were true; most sources I referenced indicated that the good Dom almost certainly would have tried to arrest the secondary fermentation caused by the cool climate in Champagne, since it would have destroyed many bottles of inventory due to the weaker glass bottles made at the time, versus the sturdier glass bottles developed much later.
Waiter's friend style rules, and the Torkscrew is a handy modern upgrade. I've got one of those wine chillers as well, simple killer app for wine…also great remedy for the forearm tendonitis that acts up during the gardening season. Cheers.
Todd – funny you should mention the forearm, I have actually used that wine sleeve chiller on my arm before after hurting it (I seem to cause myself minor injuries most days, and many of those multiple times per day!). Cheers!
No free giveaways?!?
P.S. Not only can you chill the wine on the go, but the label remains intact…not always the case with salty ice baths!
Cheers!
@QuitWINEing – Hey I am NOT giving away that wine chiller, lady! Get yer own! ;-) Great point about the label preservation. Cheers!
I also really like the wine sleeve. It does a great job chilling wine & is WAY better than 3 dozen wine charms! I tried the new fangled "corcksicle" and it was quite disappointing :( I was happy that was NOT one of your suggestions! cheers
Thanks, helcha8 – I have a sample of the corksickle, but have yet to try it (sounds like it might be an interesting experience if/when I do!). Cheers!
chill a broken arm or lower leg with that thing. Unless your guns are outta control, there's your multi-purpose for your multi-purpose gadget post.
Clive – come on, you have seen the video, so you know my guns are totally out of control…