Ten Buck Chuck (in a half hour)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Thinking about Christmas gifts for the wino in your life? Well here's one you can safely skip. TWC remains skeptical of the claims made by patent medicine purveyors and those hawking magic products that replicate the wine cellar aging process in the space of an afternoon (or shorter). These guys would have us believe that we can turn Two Buck Chuck into Ten Buck Chuck. Even better, that in an instant, a newly minted Opus One can become liquid velvet.

Robin Garr test drove the spendiest model, The Wine Enhancer......

I duly set up a double-blind tasting for a group of local sommeliers, comparing treated and untreated glasses of wines in unmarked glasses, revealing the identity of the treated glass only after the scores were in. I tried it again with other groups, and at home, repeatedly, always tasting "blind." The results were never better (or worse) than random, suggesting that the device has no effect on wine at all. Non-intrusive analysis of the admittedly attractive disc revealed no hidden mysteries within, and variations on testing - including leaving wine to "charge" for extended periods - made no difference. The thing did nothing to effect the wine in any way. Similar tests by myself and others with the other products, including a rather hilarious "offline" session in NYC with a group of our forum members and the inventor of the Wine Cellar Express, showed consistently similar results: Zero, zip, nothing, nada.

Whole thing right here, including product links for those who still believe in magic.

As Evoir,

TWC