1     When should I use Spinwine®?
2     Does Spinwine® allow for personal taste preferences?
3     How do I use Spinwine®?
4     Does Spinwine® work in all bottles?
5     How do I clean my Spinwine®?
6     The outer gasket stayed in the bottle. How do I get it out?
7     Why did the outer gasket remain in the bottle?
8     Are there other uses for Spinwine®?
9     Why does Spinwine® work?
10    Is it necessary to decant my wine?
11    What does it mean to let a wine breathe?
12    How does Spinwine® compare with other aerators?
13    Will Spinwine® be acceptable in restaurants?
 
When Should I use Spinwine®?
 
Spinwine® is designed to be used primarily with wine. It works in most wines particularly those which have been aged in oak.
 
We primarily use our Spinwine® with reds however we do use it with some whites.
 
As taste of wine is such a personal preference, we do suggest is that you follow our practice in that we always try a little bit of each bottle with Spinwine® and then without before deciding whether to continue to use Spinwine® on a particular bottle of wine.
 
 
Does Spinwine® Allow for Personal Taste Preferences?
 
This is one of the major attractions of Spinwine®. Not everyone likes their wine the same. Plenty of people like heavy tannins and others prefer softer tannins for example. When you decant a complete bottle of wine and allow it to breathe (aerate), everyone needs to drink the wine the same way.
 
With Spinwine® it is easy to pour a glass of wine so that the tannins are softer and the flavours are brought out. Then it is just as easy to remove the Spinwine® and pour a glass for another person who instead prefers the wine with heavy tannins.
 
 
How Do I Use Spinwine®?
 
Simply place the Spinwine® in the neck of the bottle. If the bottle had been corked then the top ring of the outer gasket will sit on the top of the bottle. If the bottle was a screw-top, then push the Spinwine® so that the large ring on the outer gasket sits inside the top of the bottle.
 
Now all that is required is for the wine to be poured directly into a glass and this will provide instant aeration (breathing).
 
When finished pouring raise the bottle so that it is vertical without twisting your wrist (I twisted my wrist the first time and ended up with wine everywhere!), and you will find that you have no drips.
 
 
Does Spinwine® Work In All Bottles?
 
It certainly works in all standard 750ml screw-top and cork top wine bottles. The method of insertion is described in the previous question here. We believe that 1 litre bottles have a different neck diameter which is larger and therefore it unfortunately does not easily fit.
 
 
How Do I Clean My Spinwine®?
 
Never place it in a dishwasher!
 
Spinwine® can be cleaned by just running cold or warm water through it and placing it down to dry naturally.
 
In some circumstances wine may have dried inadvertently in the double helix and to rectify this place Spinwine® in warm soapy water and then rinse with cold or warm water.
 
 
The Outer Gasket Remained In The Bottle. How Do I Get It Out?
 
Gently insert a knife or the blade of scissors and by wedging it at the bottom of the gasket gently lift the gasket out. This is a very easy exercise. All that remains then is to insert the outer gasket back on to the Spinwine® and you may now use it again. Please also read the following question, “Why did the outer gasket remain in the bottle?”
 
 
Why Did The Outer Gasket Remain In The Bottle?
 
This happens only in screw-top bottles. It should never happen in 750ml cork top bottles.
 
In screw-top bottles as the top ring is inserted in to the bottle, there may be a tendency to feel the need to push Spinwine® in too far. It only needs to be inserted into the neck so that it remains in place through the pouring. If pushed in too far, this may cause the outer gasket to remain in the bottle on some occasions.
 
 
Are There Other Uses For Spinwine®?
 
I guess that there is always some person who will always come up with other uses for any item.
 
On a serious note, we have been informed that people in North and South America have noticed that it improves the taste of Tequila, Whiskey and Bourbon all of which are usually aged in oak barrels.
 
 
Why Does Spinwine® Work?
 
Spinwine® consists of a small open cup where the wine circulates gently with air before it flows through the double spiral down into the glass. When wine is spun through the patented helix, it goes through a process of oxidising and structural reforming causing chemical changes that affect both the flavours and the texture. (See the section of breathing wines here.)
 
Numerous experiments have perfected the exact size of the cup and the spiral funnel achieving the desired softness of the wine.
 
Spinwine® takes the guesswork out of how long you should let a wine breathe for. It makes for perfectly decanted wine every time.
 
 
Is It Necessary To Decant My Wine?
 
One of the oldest questions regarding wine. We consider that there are about 50% of wine aficionados that believe wine needs to be decanted and 50% that don’t.
 
The easy answer is that it depends on the wine and depends on your taste. We believe that mostly given two different people tasting the same bottle of wine, they will have different opinions on whether it would benefit from decanting.
 
Once we get past the emotional decision of whether to decant or not, then we get to the decision of how we pour the wine into the decanter. There are many methods and the traditional method of pouring the wine out the bottle over a lit candle is one. Splashing the wine into the decanter is another and the lastly, the middle ground is pouring the wine through a “decanting” or “fining” funnel.
 
Again the decision on how to do this is split. In the age of wines which are often “fined” through egg whites for example, (look at the back label to see if it mentions egg products), there is likely to be some sacrificing of fruit flavours in the wine, however it is unlikely that there will be much sediment. Therefore the method of decanting a wine holding the neck of the bottle over the candle is hardly necessary. This method is only suitable if the following conditions are in place: i) the wine is aged and does have sediment; ii) the wine has been moved so that it is no longer lying down but has been allowed to stand for a few days in order to allow all sediment to move to the bottom of the bottle. Otherwise no matter how carefully you pour the wine from the bottle into the decanter, you will still get sediment in to the decanter.
 
A young wine benefits from being poured forcefully into a decanter. This would mean that if a young wine is poured through a funnel or by using the candle method, then pouring it into a decanter will only at best allow it to breathe quicker based on surface area exposed to the air.
 
Lastly it is worth saying that in the climate within Australia in particular, I cannot think of anything worse than pouring a wine slowly using a hot flame as a light source. All of us who studied science know that the hottest part of a candle flame is that which you cannot see above and around the part of the flame which is visible – that part which will first come into contact with the bottle! To me this is purely theatre which originates from when there was no other light source available to people other than candles.
 
 
What Does It Mean To Let A Wine Breathe?
 
The reasons for allowing a wine to breathe are many. Does every wine require it? No! In fact there are many wines which do not benefit from any exposure whatsoever to air. If any evidence is required of this, leave a small amount of any wine in a glass overnight and then taste it next day and see how it compares with last night. It is possibly going to taste more like vinegar than wine.
 
Wine aficionados talk about wine needing to breathe and describe the wine as being “closed”. This is really a made up term which bears no actual resemblance to what the wine is doing. What in fact happens is that when a wine does not breathe, it is not “closed” but is instead providing everyone with a lot more than the winemaker meant us to smell. The wine is providing us with a great big dose of sulphur and this can be in the guise of any one of 100 compounds. If you are really unlucky, you will smell the sulphur smells reminiscent of rotten eggs, rotting cabbage, burning rubber or asparagus. What this does is mask the true characteristics of both the bouquet (aroma) or taste of wine.
 
Breathing (aerating) a wine removes these sulphur compounds known as thiols from the wine and allows the consumer to smell and taste the true characteristics of the fruit.
 
For reference the sulphur is introduced into the wine mainly as a bi-product of the yeast fermentation but some is also introduced into the wine with sulphur dioxide used to prevent oxidisation of the wine.
 
Most wines will benefit from some time breathing. Traditionally we have always been told that only red wine requires it, however whites also benefit. 
 
When a wine is opened, an area of approximately 3.14mm2 is exposed to oxidisation. When a wine is poured into a glass which has a diameter of say 10mm, the surface area exposed to oxidisation is instead approximately 78.5mm2. This therefore allows 25 times the amount of wine to be exposed. Therefore the bigger the surface area, the quicker breathing or aeration occurs. This is however further complicated by the vigour with which wine is poured and the amount of wine which is exposed to air during the pour.
 
 
How Does Spinwine® Compare With Other Aerators?
 
Very well. Are there others?
 


Will Spinwine® Be Acceptable In Restaurants?

 
We always take ours with us when we dine out. If we are going to friends or family who do not have their own Spinwine® (not sure I can think of any), we take it with us. When we go to a BYO restaurant we are taking our own wine so we always take the Spinwine® to use. When we go to a licensed restaurant we take it as well because we figure we purchase the wine so therefore we have a right to drink the way we want to. Even if they offer to decant the wine, which unfortunately is becoming a rarity, pouring a wine into a decanter does not allow it to instantly breathe and we are impatient and want to drink now.
 
Pouring a bottle into a decanter at a restaurant will provide very minimal aeration. From there pouring from a decanter is theatre and will provide minimal breathing time. If it is a wine to breathe that you are wanting as well as the theatre of pouring from a decanter, then attach your Spinwine® to the bottle and pour the bottle into the decanter.