I was first introduced to an aerator by the gals in my small group/wine club. Each month, we get a CA red and a CA white and we each have our own glasses and a really cute wine club kit. Sometime last year, a Vinturi aerator made it’s way into the kit, so the reds didn’t need to decant prior to being enjoyed.

While I’m a white drinker (darn you, tannins!), I always have reds on hand to serve when I’m entertaining. I picked up a pretty decanter and my guests have never complained that the reds weren’t quickly drinkable. However, I was always intrigued by the speed of the aerator and the way it forces oxidation into the wine to change the flavor.

For Christmas, my mom surprised me* with a Vinturi for whites! Whites are not decanted, so I wondered how my chardonnays, etc, would change in flavor. I have to say I’ve been quite impressed with how the wine finishes now. While I don’t notice a huge change in flavor, I do notice a smoother finish and sometimes a nicer drinkability!

*While standing in line at Sur La Table, my mom asked if I wanted one for Christmas, I said yes, and she threw it in her basket. Surprise!

Yesterday afternoon, I joined some cousins and friends for lunch at a vineyard. My aunt is the manager of the winery restaurant and we enjoyed her favorite recommendations. We also enjoyed a yummy grand cuvee with brunch!

As we were finishing up our meal, the waitress passed out some fun cards with facts and trivia on them. I love them and thought many of the facts were worth sharing!

Vine Facts

1 grape cluster = 1 glass
75 grapes = 1 cluster
4 clusters = 1 bottle
1 vine = 10 bottles
1200 clusters = 1 barrel
1 barrel = 60 gallons
60 gallons = 25 cases
30 vines = 1 barrel
400 vines = 1 acre
1 acre = 5 tons
5 tons = 332 cases

Bottle Sizes

Split = 1/4 bottle
Magnum = 2 bottles
Jeroboam = 4 bottles
Methuselah = 8 bottles
Salmanazar =12 bottles
Balthazar = 16 bottles
Nabuchadnezzar = 20 bottles

Wine Trivia

There are 20 million acres of grapes planted worldwide.

California produces approximately 77% of the US wine grape crop.

30 million gallons of wine were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

There are currently 10,000 varies of grapes worldwide.

There is at least one commercial winery in every state in the United States, including Hawaii (been there!) and Alaska.

The average age of an oak tree used for a wine barrel is 170 years.

Only 5% of an oak tree is suitable for making wine barrels, therefore it can take up to 20 oak trees to make one wine barrel.

Portugal has 1/3 of the worlds cork forests and supplies 85-90% of the corks used in the US.

The longest recorded champagne cork flight was 177 feet and 9 inches.

What was the last GREAT bottle of wine that you had?