Wine gadget: the wine-cooling stick

Sometimes you discover that you’ve always been missing something. Something you never knew was absent from your life. Because who has ever scratched behind their ear thinking: if only I had an ice-cold stainless-steel stick to chill my wine. I certainly haven’t.

But perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe many people have actually been cherishing that wish. The fact is that all kinds of so-called wine-cooling sticks have suddenly appeared. Three-in-one design gadgets that lower the temperature of your wine by ten degrees in no time. Including a special, drip-free pouring spout with an air hole for extra oxygen and a designer stopper to preserve the bottle if desired.

Two hours in the freezer and the cooling element is ready for use. It fits into any bottle and simply chills the wine from the inside. No ice bucket with water on the table, no trips back and forth to the fridge, and the label stays visible and dry. Ideal if you want to show off your bottle.

Do’s

And I can’t deny it. In the absence of a wine climate cabinet, it is quite a handy device. The cooling element takes up hardly any space in the freezer. The same cannot be said of the average twelve bottles of wine that – waiting for the ideal wine-and-food pairing – are constantly roaming around my fridge. And is that one particular bottle not chilled when you need it? Then a stick like this comes in handy, and the wine quickly reaches the right temperature.

Putting it in the fridge with the glass and all is possibly even more inconvenient than those twelve bottles that were already there

Don’ts

But this little gadget also has some drawbacks. While testing it, I clumsily lowered the device into the wine, after which the wine gushed out of the bottle. Understandably so, because a freshly opened bottle is pretty full. Some liquid therefore has to be removed first to make room for the cooling stick.

But anyway, what are you supposed to do with such a half-glass of poured lukewarm wine? It’s not very tasty yet. And throwing it away immediately would be a shame. Putting it in the fridge with the glass and all is possibly even more inconvenient than those twelve bottles that were already there. And one more thing: you actually have no idea when the ideal serving temperature has been reached (but the ice bucket doesn’t exactly excel in that department either).

All in all, I don’t know whether life necessarily becomes more enjoyable or easier with a wine-cooling stick. However, as an alternative to ice cubes, I highly recommend it, and of course it makes a very fun wine gift. Especially if you choose the Winechill version. It also offers the option of decorating the stopper with your own logo or having the cooling stick engraved. And personalized gifts are always a hit.

A selection of the wine-cooling sticks available on the Dutch market:

Icestick cooling stick (€ 10,50)

available from Bol.com, among others

Winechill (€ 24,95)

available from Wijnkoperij De Gouden Ton, among others

Host Chill (€ 39,95)

available from dressmywine, among others

Image: WineChill