Why the Second Glass Never Tastes Like the First

We have all tried the usual remedies. The ice bucket, which soaks the label off, drips across the tablecloth and takes up half the setting. The dash inside to the fridge, which leaves the hostess forever missing the best part of the arvo. Ice cubes in the glass, which no one who cares for wine can quite forgive — they simply water down what you paid good money for.

The trouble is that none of these deal with the bottle itself, sitting in the spring air, warming by the minute. Cold from the outside has to fight its way through the glass; cold that starts inside the wine has nowhere to travel.

Which brings us to a rather clever little object we have been testing in the Companion kitchen: the Lindner & Co Wine Chiller. It is a slender rod of 304 food-grade stainless steel that lives in your freezer — an hour is all it needs, though most owners simply leave it there, so it is always ready. You slip it down into the open bottle and it brings the wine to serving temperature in 10 to 15 minutes, then holds it there from the inside, glass after glass, for up to three hours at the table.

The top of the rod is an aerating pour spout that airs the wine gently as you pour — softer, more aromatic — and cuts off cleanly without a drip on the cloth. A matching stopper seals whatever is left. It fits standard 750ml bottles, screwcaps included, and the whole thing goes in the dishwasher afterwards.