I have a confession to make: I have sweaty hands. It’s a nuisance when I make pie crust from scratch and a disclaimer when I shake someone’s hand. But the absolute worst part about it? It seriously affects my wine-drinking experience.
When I hold onto a glass of wine (especially a stemless one), the surface is left with unsightly finger smudges. And I know for a fact that my body temperature is warming up my precious wine. Sadly, there isn't a particularly chic solution. I’m far too clumsy to keep my hands on the stem, ice cubes dilute the wine, and insulated metal or plastic wine glasses aren’t exactly sophisticated. It’s a curse that I thought I’d be stuck with forever. That is, until I heard about VoChill.
Husband and wife duo Randall and Lisa Pawlik invented VoChill after experiencing too many glasses of wine turn unpleasantly warm in the Texas sun. Their solution was to create a sleek, chilled cradle that fits a wine glass. The cooling mechanism mimics what you’d find in a traditional ice bucket, and it keeps your wine cold with each and every sip. Oprah Winfrey loves the product so much that she added it to her list of favorite things last year.
It seems like the answer to all of my sweaty hand-induced problems, so I decided to try the VoChill myself so see if it deserves the hype.
The VoChill is comprised of two parts: a freezable chill cradle and a detachable stand to keep your glass stable. All you need to do is separate the cradle and pop it in the freezer. After just a few hours, the cradle will be frozen solid and ready to use. Just nestle your wine glass (VoChill is compatible with most standard sizes) directly into the cradle and allow the frozen surface to bring the temperature down.
To see how well it worked, I started with a room temperature bottle of red wine and used an instant read thermometer. I set my glass of wine in the VoChill and set my timer for exactly five minutes. Then it was time to put it to the test.
The room temperature wine came in at 77°F. But after just five minutes in the VoChill, it dropped to 62°F. That’s a whopping 15° difference! Tasting the two temperatures side by side was almost jarring—the cooler glass allowed me to pick up on more of the wine’s nuance, while the warmer wine tasted much duller.
I decided to keep the experiment going and kept my glass in the VoChill for 10 more minutes. After checking the temperature again, I discovered that it dropped another 10 degrees. While 52° is a little on the cool side for a red wine, this is approaching the optimal zone for a crisp white.
It’s official: I’m a VoChill convert. Never again will I have to suffer through a lukewarm glass of wine. And you don’t have to, either. Grab yourself a VoChill (or two, or three) at the Delish shop!
