Once in a while I get asked to review wine related products, and frankly I am not usually all that in to it. Before I started writing this blog, I had been a wine geek for quite a while and as a result, I have tried a whole host of gadgets on my own (in other words I paid for them), and I considered most of that money poorly spent. I have been through a ton of aerators, openers, glasses, preservation systems, bags, racks, and wine spill removal concoctions.
And other than corkscrews?
I no longer use any of them.
So when something “new” comes along, color me skeptical.
Why? Well, for the most part, aerators are a waste of time, the best openers are the simplest, my favorite glasses are the sturdiest, I usually have no need for preservation systems, when I carry wine around, I use a metal carrier that I got as a present years ago, there is no such thing as the “perfect” wine rack, and I wear dark clothes to tastings so that I can’t notice the stains.
There.
A few weeks ago, I was asked if I wanted to try Vinum Meum’s Glass Bottle Stoppers. My first thought? Well, I already have a few glass stoppers that came from bottles that had a glass stopper as the primary closure. I kept those stoppers and I used them regularly when I wanted to stop up an already opened bottle. (I have to say, honestly, that it happens rarely. In fact the only time it happens is when we open a second bottle. OK, a third bottle.)
The four stoppers come in this cute little box (did I just use the word “cute”?)
Once these stoppers arrived, I started using them and honestly, I haven’t stopped (a little pun there, in case you missed it). They are easy and even “fun” to use and more importantly, they only increase the height of the bottle 1/4 of an inch. This means that it can fit fairly easily into the door of my refrigerator (a huge plus) without having to move many of the Asian sauces and concoctions that my wife likes to store there even though she only uses them twice a decade.
Initially, even though I liked them, I was not going to endorse them since they did not fit every bottle but then I did something rather crazy: I read the enclosed instructions which informed me that there were two different sizes (in my defense, they are bottle stoppers and I thought the name itself was sufficient to instruct one how to use the product). Once I figured that out, I started to use these little suckers all the time (except for sparkling wine, naturally).
The other reason I was not instantly “sold” on the product was the price: $39.99. Whoa. You do not have to be a math wiz to figure out that it comes out to $10 a stopper, which is a bit steep.
The other day, however, I happened upon them on Amazon, and the price had been reduced to $16.95 for the set of four (that is $4.24/stopper for the mathematically challenged out there), which is far more reasonable.
I like reasonable.
These stoppers come in a four pack and are available on Amazon.com.
Image from Amazon.com
the drunken cyclist 
There is a number of Italian wines which use those closures as their standard ones (instead of an actual cork), so at this point, I have a good collection of this glass stoppers, and they work quite well – however, every once in a while you can come across the bottle where they wouldn’t fit. Overall, agreed – very convenient.
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Yeah. I have a few from bottles as well. These seem to be better, but I am no expert….
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hmmmm…gonna have to try this. Although, I do agree I rarely have a bottle that has any wine left in it after opening. 😉 Thanks for using the Passaggio Merlot!!
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If you have wine left over, you are not really trying!
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Oh, and that Merlot? Yowza!
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My biggest surprise is you have bottles that need stoppers! Whenever I have a bottle that needs a stopper I pump the air out with my pumper and rubber closer thingy. That does not happen too often. Glad the price came down; $10 each is way too much. Thanks for introduction.
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I have heard that the Vacuvin is detrimental. I have one as well, but some have said that it sucks out flavor as it sucks out air. I have no idea, but I don’t use it anymore (on the extremely rare occasion when I have some wine left).
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Ha! I have one that came as with a nice bottle of Spanish wine. Very nice! Truth is I don’t use it often though. On those rare occasions when we don’t finish a bottle I just put the cork back in a stick in the fridge. But you’ve inspired me to look for that nice glass on that came with the Spanish wine. Time to class it up!
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It is a bit classier! I agree, though, I rarely need one!
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I’m with you on the gadget front, give me a waiter’s friend corkscrew and decent glass and I’m good to go. Like others, I have a bunch of the glass stoppers, but the ones I have seem to be very particular about which bottles they fit, so mostly they stay in the drawer. I had to laugh about your description of your sauce filled refrigerator door as that is a constant battle at our house, too!
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Soooooo many sauces that we never seem to use–but I am not allowed to go there. As for the gadgets, it seems as though we have reached the limit!
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