The Spike Pub & Liquor Store - ABLE BC

Wine Report
by Mark Shipway
Accessories
Ask ten wine professionals for their opinions on wine accessories
and you’ll get ten different answers. Although professionals may
argue on some points, they can be divided into roughly two
camps - those who endorse them and those that scorn them.
Many sommeliers will tell you that the only accessory you will ever
need is a corkscrew, though some would opine that a corkscrew
is not an accessory at all, but an essential tool of the trade.
The most essential accessory a bartender, server, or consumer
can own is a good corkscrew. What elements should you look for
in a good crank Essentially, a corkscrew must be able to extract
any type of cork both easily and cleanly. The corkscrew that many
people like to use is the two-stage waiters’ friend (so-called as it
extracts the cork by a two-stage cantilever action), which has the
major advantage of applying force vertically and not bending the
cork to the side, which reduces the risk of cork breakage. This is
the most common type of corkscrew, but for your staff, look for a
brand that has a good quality knife blade and well-made casing
(which often splits apart in cheap versions).
This is a much easier corkscrew to use than the original waiter’s friend with
its one stage lever, although some servers still prefer to carry this traditional
version. Other useful corkscrews to have on hand at the bar are the two-pronged
“Ah-So” as well as the “Screwpull”, which are both hugely valuable when trying
to extract old and frail corks that might otherwise crumble or split when pulled
with a waiter’s friend. In my view, the large and cumbersome “Rabbit” corkscrew
(so named as its shape resembles the head of a rabbit) is a gimmicky device to
have at home unless you really do struggle with using a regular crank.
Once your bottle of wine is opened you will need to get it into whatever drinking
vessel you are utilizing (hopefully some appropriate, high quality stemware).
Various accessories are once again provided for this purpose,
but I find pourers, wine collars, drop-stops and aerators to be
largely superfluous. Aerators are devices designed to “loosen
up” powerful, tannic reds, however, this can be just as well
achieved by splash decanting. There is no doubt though that
aerators are more than just decoration and they do change
the character of wine, which can be beneficial in certain cases.
A good decanter or carafe is an essential accessory as it can be
utilized for both aeration and the separation of precipitated
sediment. Carafes also look elegant on the table, so select
an example from a high quality glassware manufacturer
like Riedel and choose a simple, practical design. The basic
Venetian Carafe shape does the job perfectly.
In my opinion, wine stoppers and wine preservers like the
Vacuvin, which sucks out air in an attempt to reduce the rate
of oxidation in an opened bottle, are extraneous. The only
method of wine preservation that I have found to work is
the use of inert gas, which is dispensed from a canister and
displaces the air in an opened bottle. It can keep some wines for up to a week
without serious deterioration. Champagne stoppers or fizz-keepers, on the other
hand, are useful since champagne corks cannot be reinserted into the bottle
once removed, so it’s definitely worth having a couple on hand.
Finally, cooler jackets and thermometers for controlling and monitoring service
temperature of wines are devices that have a practical application, since cooler
jackets are great for keeping wines cool on hot summer days. I like the simple
alcohol-filled dip thermometer the best.
Remember that these accessories aren’t just for your employees to use in your
bar, they should also be stocked in your store.
30 The Publican