SIDEBAR
In hand By Sylvia Jansen, DipWSET, CSW, Sommelier Let me tell you about my love affair. It has to do with weight, look, feel, and flow. I know they are only gadgets, but I confess a love for beautiful writing implements, fine glass polishing towels, and quality corkscrews. For certain, functionality is a big part of any good gadget: anyone who has smudged ink from a poor pen, despaired over streaky wine glasses, or broken a clumsy corkscrew mid-extraction can attest to the importance of good design and quality materials. But we all know that love is not just about functionality; it is also about intangible connections. Allow me to give you my list of most loved wine gadgets.
Open flame, freezing cold: Caution: this gadget requires courage and quick movements. Imagine a well-aged vintage Port with a fragile cork vulcanized to the bottle neck. Enter the Port Tongs, which you heat mightily over a fire or gas element, crimp onto the bottle neck below the cork, and hold in place for a minute, give or take. Removing the tongs quickly, replace them with an ice-cold wet cloth on the bottle neck, and presto, a clean break and another perfect pouring spout. Now, Port Tongs are a bit hard to find, but we collaborated with our friends at Cloverdale Forge and now have designed-and-made-in-Manitoba Port Tongs. (Just for the record, I bought the first pair.)
66 http://banvilleandjones.cornervine.com
Breathe in, settle down: A decanter should not just collect dust. If an aged wine or vintage Port needs to be separated from sediment, or a young wine needs some air, you need one. It could be anything from a milk-bottle lookalike to a blown crystal sculpture—but I have to say that a crystal sculpture is more fun on the dinner table. Moreover, the sharper the pouring edge the better—and decanters with cut glass lips pour nicely.
Hand-held wonders: Cork closures are anything but obsolete, and to remove the cork can be an awkward task or it can be an art form. Try the feel of a quality weighted instrument, the smooth work of the Teflon-coated worm, and you will agree about functionality meeting intangible. One of my best Pulltaps corkscrews is more than a decade old, and I have lost count of how many great wines it has opened. A lovely alternate is a rechargeable Rabbit electric corkscrew. You need only to hold the unit in place, depress the on-button, and the tool deftly removes the cork. In fact, it takes care of multiple bottles on a single charge.
