Most Useful Wine Accessories
Posted on June 6th, 2008
Most Useful Wine Accessories
Wine accessories are important to help open, preserve, and serve the wine. The most important wine accessories are stemware, corkscrews, racks, collars, and decanters. All of these accessories play a big role in wine.
One of the most important wine accessories to have is stemware. Stemware is a type of drink ware that stands up on a stem above a base. Most of the time it’s made from glass, but it can also be made from metals and ceramics. There is a wide variety of stemware such as wine glasses, champagne flutes, chalices and goblets, cocktail glasses, Brandy snifters, and cordial glasses. Each stemware plays an individual part in wine or alcoholic beverages.
Another important wine accessory is the corkscrew. The corkscrew is used for drawing stopping corks from wine bottles. Corkscrews are necessary because corks are too small and smooth. There are four basic types of corkscrews. There is the basic wooden handled corkscrew, wing corkscrew, sommelier knife, and twin-prong cork puller.
Decanters also play a big part in wine accessories. Decanters are vessels equipped with a stopper that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid which may contain sediment. It is used as a serving vessel for wine. Most decanters have a tall, upright shape and are made of glass to allow inspection of the process of decanting. The shapes may vary due to the modernization of decanters.
Another accessory is the wine rack. The wine rack, which many wine collectors and restaurants own, is a storage device used for the orientation of long term wine aging. It usually lays the bottle on its side at a downward angle to keep the cork from drying and the ensuing entry of oxygen. It also serves as a decorative piece in homes.
An additional wine accessory is the wine collar. It fits around the neck of the wine bottle. It stops any dripping that may occur after the bottle of wine has been poured. This is important because it help prevents the staining of surfaces that the wine may come in contact with such as counter top, tables, and table cloths. Wine collars are also generally known as a drip ring, drip dickey or drip collar.
As a whole, each of the wine accessories mentioned play an important role in serving and preserving wine. From the collar to the rack, all wine accessories play a very big role.
Lindsay Aston is a contributing editor for Classic Wines, specializing in wine accessories.
Most Useful Wine Accessories / Author: Classic Wines
