Our Cru or Crud holiday guide continues, this time exploring the "attractive" world of magnetic wine accessories. Magnets have pulled quite a bit of profit as bracelets, pillows, and almost anything else you can imagine... so why not apply them to wine?

You don't have to know much about wine to know that certain wines taste better with age. But what if you could glean the benefits of ten years of aging in, say, one year? No good? How about one hour? Not even that patient? How about a single pour? If that's more your style, check out the Wine Clip. This handy device clips directly onto the neck of the bottle and, using the power of magnets, instantly produces "a smoother, less-tannic taste" and "a more pleasant aroma" as the wine is poured out of the bottle.

I'll be frank: I'm skeptical. Perhaps it's how the device is claimed to utilize the "highly magnetically susceptible" qualities of oxygen; which, while true of liquid oxygen, is not true of the gas. Or perhaps it's the claim that tannins are somehow "broken up" during their brief trip through the neck of the bottle--which, as fantastical a claim as it is, ignores all the other factors that occur during the aging process. But who knows? If you have $25 and enough positive thinking to will your tannins into submission, this might be the holiday item for you. Head on over to thewineclip.com for more info.

Quattro Vino rating: crud.

Posted by Trevor Mead at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our "Cru or Crud?" holiday gift guide finds the best and the worst of holiday wine gifts, and today's item is nothing to turn your nose up at!

Philosophers have debated for centuries over the problem of shared experience: sure, we might all agree that a particular color is called "red", but how can we know that everyone "sees" the same color? Similarly, your favorite wine critics may describe a bottle as having notes of violet, or green pepper, or red currant... but how can you know if your impression of green pepper is the same as theirs? What does red currant smell like anyway? Enter Le Nez du Vin, a collection of "reference molecules" (read: scented oils) which touts itself as the standard for identifying wine aromas. Each kit comes in a clothbound booklet, complete with reference guide and explanatory cards--as they should, for an average price of $100-$400--and are broken down into red, white, and champagne scents. There are even kits for discerning barrel influences and faults, the latter featuring such lovely odors as glue, sulfur, and horse!

Overall, it's a fantastic concept, but the price tag may be enough to drive the average consumer away. And let's be honest: who needs a bottle of lemon "reference molecules" when fresh lemons are available just down the street? Still, having struggled to identify various aromas (and trying to deal with the local snob who swears there's a hint of acacia in his glass) makes this a gift I'd be excited to see under the tree. Read more at makescentsofwine.com.

Quattro Vino rating: Cru.

Posted by Trevor Mead at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's here! Quattro Vino is proud to present our holiday gift guide, with a refreshing twist. We've scoured the internet, magazines, and store shelves for the best and the worst wine-related gifts of the year, then rank them "cru" or "crud" respectively. Hopefully you'll find some great gifts for that special wine enthusiast in your life--or, at the very least, get a good chuckle out of the duds!

First on the block: the Silhouette wine glass, featuring a hand-forged notch in the rim. Its purpose? To create an enlarged space for your nose, saving you from the uncomfortable and socially awkward act of tilting your glass a few degrees higher to smell the wine. Now, before you laugh this item off the gift list, realize that you're not just buying stemware reminiscent of those gag-gift dribble cups you had as a kid; you're buying stemware reminiscent of dribble cups with class! "Purchasing a Silhouette wine glass elevates you into that respected group of sophisticated wine drinkers," the website promises. Which group they're referring to, exactly, remains a mystery. Artists, who can reminisce over Jackson Pollock with every wall-splattering swirl? Cooks, eager to "close out the outside olfactory influences" of the food they've paired their wine with? The Joneses, desperate to "be an early adapter to this dramatic change in glassware"? Whoever the group, you too can join for a mere $78 per glass, available exclusively at the modestly named GreatestWineGlass.com.

Quattro Vino rating: crud.

Posted by Trevor Mead at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)