One went into my bottle. A few more went to the friends who asked. | Lindner & Co

Kitchen notebook, page three — the running list

One went into my bottle at a backyard dinner. A few more went to the friends who asked.

  • 1minestill mine
  • 2Danaasked across the table
  • 3Priyaasked before the pav came out
  • 4Marcustexted next morning
  • +3orderedone each, that Sunday night
  • 1 ▸ +3so farthe list isn't finished
  • your table, this weekend

The first one was mine. It went into the rosé at a backyard dinner, the first warm Saturday of spring, and the woman beside me put down her fork to ask what it was. Two more asked before the weekend was out, and I ordered three.

There is a drawer in my kitchen for wine things used once. A vacuum stopper. A neoprene sleeve. An electric opener I have charged exactly one time. Nothing in it has ever been bought twice.

This one never went in.

Rosé pouring through the clear spout into a stemmed glass at an outdoor dinner table on a timber deck, plates with folded napkins and sprigs of rosemary on woven placemats, pots of herbs along the table and a green garden behind in warm afternoon light: the moment a guest asks what it is
The pour that started the list.

The rest of the list, one question

Have you ever bought a second one, for somebody who asked?

  • Ice bucketeverybody owns one; nobody has ever asked where a bucket came from
  • Neoprene sleevepulled on like a stubby holder; visible, and nobody wants one of their own
  • Ice in the glassnobody asks about a bag of servo ice, and the third glass tastes like water
  • The fridge relaysomething you do, not something you own; nothing to ask for
  • Benchtop wine fridgeasked about once, then furniture; you never buy a friend one

The bucket was never wrong. Everybody has seen one, so nobody looks at it twice. Cold that works outside the bottle has to be big and wet, so it takes a seat at the table and, on a warm arvo, sweats a puddle onto the wood. Nothing that ordinary gets asked about.

A bottle of white standing in a wet metal ice bucket on a wooden kitchen table, meltwater pooling around its base: the one wine thing nobody has ever asked about
Crossed off first. Nobody ever wanted their own.

Why this one gets asked about

Cold pushed at the outside of a bottle has to cross the glass first, and fight the spring sun on the way, so it needs something bulky around it. Cold that starts inside the wine has no distance to travel. That is why the whole chill fits in one narrow rod standing in the bottle you opened, in everyone's eye line, with every glass poured through it. It is the only chilling small enough to be seen.

The Lindner & Co Wine Cooling Stick. A rod of 304 food-grade stainless steel with a clear spout that airs the wine as you pour and does not drip. About an hour in the freezer, then into the open bottle: serving temperature in 10 to 15 minutes, cold for up to three hours. Lindner & Co call that part Core Chill.

See the rod up close →
An open bottle of rosé on a weathered timber outdoor table, the stainless steel rod visible inside it and the clear spout on top, a kettle barbecue with glowing coals on the lawn behind: the part that gets asked about
The rod in the bottle, out by the barbie. That is the part that gets asked about.

Three steps in your kitchen. The fourth one is not yours.

  1. It lives in the freezerAbout an hour the first time. After that it is simply in there.
  2. Into the bottle you already openedPour a glass to make room, slide it down the neck. Serving temperature in 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Pour through the spoutDrip-free, aired on the way to the glass, and the cold holds glass after glass out on the deck, no ice, no bucket.
  4. Somebody asks where you got itNot your step. You just have the answer ready.

Per kit: 1 rod, 1 spout, 1 stopper. Dishwasher-safe, no motor, no batteries. It does not end up in the drawer.

A hand setting the polished steel rod, clear spout and black collar, on the frosted wire shelf of an open home freezer beside two white ice-cube trays and a bag of frozen peas: the one wine thing that gets bought twice
Into the freezer, at somebody else's house. Step one, again.

Three things I wrote down before the second one

"Isn't this just a conversation piece?"They ask because it is working in front of them. Serving temperature in 10 to 15 minutes, still cold for up to three hours. They watch the third glass leave the same bottle while the esky ice melts.
"Do I actually need a second one?"The second one is never yours. Buy one, get one free means the first person who asks takes one home that night: two complete kits, 2 rods, 2 spouts, 2 stoppers.
"Will they use it, or does it end up in a drawer like everything else?"A rod of 304 food-grade stainless steel. No gel, fits standard 750 ml bottles including screw caps. It lives in their freezer the way it lives in yours. 30-day refund policy either way.
A hand holding two polished steel rods, each with its clear spout, at the door of an open home freezer, a white ice-cube tray and a bag of frozen peas on the shelf behind them
Two kits, headed for the freezer. One for you, one for whoever asks first.

One for you. One for whoever asks first.

Buy one, get one freeTwo complete kitsA$74.99A$149.98 2 + 2 freeOnly A$31.25 eachA$124.99A$299.96 3 + 3 freeSave 62% · For when you know more will askA$169.99A$449.94
Get two kits — one for whoever asks →

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4.8/5 · 357 reviews

Excellent! Gave one to a friend, and she wanted to know where to buy more!

Anonymous

I'm really happy and very glad I ordered this product. Gave a couple to friends of mine and they're really happy too.

Marion B.
Two friends clinking glasses of white wine over a small round garden table on a sunny lawn, the bottle on the table below them with the clear spout in its neck: the table where the next person asks where it came from
One of these two is about to ask.

My list started with one line: mine.

Yours starts the same way. The blank line underneath is not yours to fill in: somebody at your table does, this weekend.

  • 1yoursinto the bottle you already opened
  • whoever asks first
Get yours and theirs →

Orders placed today ship tomorrow.

Buy one, get one free · A$74.9930-day refund policy · 1 ▸ +3
See why they all asked →