Basic Tools of a Wine Bar

I understand that most of you might have a few of these items already, but I have compiled a brief list of a few basic items I feel are near necessary for a wine bar (of any caliber). 

#1.

A Wine Aerator Price Range: $10 - $40+

The one I use (and so do other members of my family) is by Vinturi.  They are $40+ in stores, but you can find them a bit cheaper on Amazon.  There are other brands out there as cheap as $10 for a spout, but I can't speak as to the amount of difference they make in the wine.

Now, why would you need one of these?  A common practice is to decant a wine after opening it to let it "breath".  This takes a while, but truly does help restore the intended taste of the wine that has been sitting in an air tight bottle for who knows how long.  An aerator (at least I know a Vinturi) helps do this immediately. 

The best way I can summarize what this does is "to open up the taste of the wine".  I find I notice more with reds than whites.  I always do a little taste non-aerated, then a little taste aerated just to see the difference the first time I try a wine.  This doesn't need to be done if you are drinking a bottle of wine you opened more than a day ago typically.  Too much air can be a bad thing (that is why the bottles are corked air-tight.

 #2

Wine Stopper Price Range $5 - $30

My personal favorite type of stopper is one with a lever as pictured above.  Although, Rabbit does make a good rubber stopper that keeps the air out well, but I wouldn't trust it not to leak on my floor, so I only use those for whites I keep in the fridge.  You can also go really high tech and get a stopper/pump combo to "suck" out the air, which supposedly can extend your opened wine's shelf life up to 30 days. 

I don't know about you, but wine doesn't typically last 30 days in my house once it is opened. 

Why would you need these and not just use the cork again? Two reasons. First, as I mentioned, too much air is a bad thing and these little guys are going to help keep more air out.  Second, sometimes corks break or don't want to fit back in.

#3

Foil Cutter Price Range $5-$15

A foil cutter isn't as important so much as the fact that you make sure you take the foil off wine bottles so you don't dull your corkscrew.  Also, if you don't take the foil off you can get foil falling into you wine (learned that the hard way). 


Other Basics:

Wine Glasses- Solo cups don't cut it after college, so go ahead, break down & spend a couple bucks at Wal-Mart and pick up 4-8 glasses.  Also just so you know the different shapes are for different wines (I can't really tell a difference when drinking but it is fun to know which one is for which, I listed the pictures below if you want to know too).

Corkscrew/pump/Rabbit/etc- Unless you are going into a bar fight and need a shiv, it's the only way to open a bottle of wine

Wine Cooler- I don't have one of these as of now, but I plan to get one soon.  You can get singles used on craigslist for as little as $25 or a 20 bottle cooler new for $200+.  These are handy to get your wine to the correct temperature and to do it quickly if you decide to have a white spur of the moment.

 White Wine Glass, More of a V shape at the bottom.

Red Wine Glass, More of a bowl shape at Bottom and typically a larger mouth.