The Best Wine Accessories That Make a Difference

If you’ve ever strolled down the wine aisle at Williams Sonoma or fallen into a late-night Amazon rabbit hole (guilty), you know the wine accessory world can be overwhelming. What do you mean I need an electric aerator that can age wine in .5324 seconds?! $200 decanters shaped like dolphins? Preservation systems that cost more than most bottles you’ll actually drink? It’s a lot.

I’ll say this: some wine accessories genuinely make a difference in your experience, while others are expensive solutions to problems you don’t have. Others are just outright gimmicks, which can be fun, but recognize that this is what they are.

This guide breaks down what from what – essential tools every wine drinker should have to luxury upgrades that might be worth the splurge, depending on how you drink and what you value.

The Actual Essentials: Start Here

Corkscrews: The Only Tool You Absolutely Need

You cannot drink wine without opening it, which makes a good corkscrew a non-negotiable. And yes, it needs to be a good one! My first was from when I was a server at a restaurant, and was opening wine bottles constantly. I was opening a bottle in front of a table one night, and my new corkscrew snapped inside the cork. That’s when I made the realization that not every corkscrew is the same.

The waiter’s corkscrew (sommelier knife) is the move. It’s compact, reliable, and once you learn the technique, it’s significantly faster than anything else. Quality ones run $10-30, though I highly recommend looking at the higher end of that spectrum. Look for a double-hinged fulcrum (better leverage) and a serrated foil cutter. The Pulltap’s Double-Hinged Waiter’s Corkscrew is the industry standard for good reason – sommeliers worldwide use it because it’s efficient.

Lever corkscrews are the beginner-friendly alternative. They require less technique and work well for people with limited hand strength or arthritis. The Rabbit is the famous name here, though plenty of cheaper versions perform similarly. Expect to pay $30-50 for decent quality.

Electric corkscrews are out there, but are unnecessary unless you have mobility issues. They’re slower than a waiter’s corkscrew in experienced hands and add another device to charge.

Skip wine keys with unnecessary features – built-in thermometers, LED lights, or multiple tools you’ll never use. I find they go hand-in-hand with poor quality, oftentimes.

Wine Glasses

The wine glass you drink from genuinely affects how wine tastes, but you don’t need 47 different shapes. The glass’s job is directing wine to the right parts of your tongue and concentrating aromatics toward your nose.

For everyday drinking, get yourself a set of universal wine glasses that work with both reds and whites. Ideally, search for glasses with a bowl large enough to swirl (8-12 oz capacity, though you’ll only fill them 4-5 oz), a tapered rim to concentrate aromas, and a stem to prevent your hand from warming the wine.

Brands like Schott Zwiesel make durable, dishwasher-safe glasses around $10-15 each that perform well without the fragility of ultra-thin crystal. The Schott Zwiesel Tritan Pure line offers really nice quality at affordable prices.

If you want to upgrade, Riedel and Zalto make beautiful, thin-rimmed glasses that genuinely enhance wine. Expect $20-50+ per glass and make sure that you know that thicker rims are more noticeable in your mouth and slightly interfere with the wine’s delivery. That said, these are investments you’ll be a bit distraught over when they inevitably break.

Stemless glasses look pretty modern, but have a practical problem: your hand warms the wine. This is the last thing we want, so unless you’re exclusively drinking casual reds , steer clear of these. For whites and sparkling wines that should stay cold, you absolutely can’t do these.

You don’t need separate Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Port, and Riesling glasses unless you’re genuinely into wine as a hobby. Most people are completely fine with one universal shape.

Decanters and Aerators: Do They Actually Work?

Decanters: Sometimes Necessary, Often Nice to Have

Decanters serve two purposes: aerating young wines and separating old wines from sediment. Whether you need one depends entirely on what you drink.

For young, tannic red wines (for ex: Cabernet Sauvignon, Barolo, or Bordeaux under 10 years old), decanting exposes wine to oxygen, softening harsh tannins and opening up aromatics. Pour the wine into the decanter 30-60 minutes before serving.

For older wines with sediment, decanters let you separate clear wine from the stuff that’s hanging out at the bottom of the bottle. You’ll need a steadier hand and sometimes a candle or flashlight to see when sediment gets up to the neck.

For most wines under 30 bucks, decanting makes a pretty unnoticeable difference. Everyday wines are made to drink immediately without prep, so if you’re opening a $15 Pinot Noir, just pour it and drink it.

Decanter shape honestly doesn’t make much of a difference, in my experience. Wide-bottomed models maximize oxygen exposure, which is better for aeration, but in reality, the difference is minimal. Buy something you think looks nice and is easy to clean, and you’re probably just fine.

Price range: $25-100 for perfectly good decanters. Beyond that, you’re paying for design and brand name.

Aerators: Faster But Not Magic

Wine aerators claim to replicate hours of decanting in seconds by forcing wine through channels that maximize oxygen contact. I can’t say this is absolutely a lie, but it’s also not that easy.

Aerators like the Vinturi or Menu Wine Breather do increase oxygen exposure and can soften young wines, which is great if you’re like me and are both impatient and also forgetful. I basically never remember to decant ahead of time. Pour-through aerators attach to the bottle or fit in your glass, making them convenient for single servings.

Aerators work, but they’re not going to magically open up a young, tannic wine that needs two hours in a decanter in 30 seconds. They provide noticeable but modest improvement, which is good if you prioritize convenience over everything else. If you mostly drink casual wines or actually remember to decant ahead of time, skip them.

Price range: $15-40. More expensive versions don’t perform notably better. The Menu Wine Breather ($30) is well-designed and easy to clean, while the Vinturi ($40) has been around forever and works reliably.

Wine Preservation: Keeping Opened Bottles Fresh

Once you open a bottle of wine, oxygen begins degrading it, though how quickly that happens largely depends on the wine itself. Lighter whites are known to go downhill faster than robust reds. I’d say you have around 1-5 days before noticeable decline. So a wine preservation system is paramount!

Vacuum Pumps: Basic and Cheap

Vacuum pumps like the Vacu Vin remove air from bottles using a hand pump and rubber stopper. They cost $10-15 and extend wine life by a day or two beyond simple recorking.

These are fine for casual wine drinkers who occasionally have leftover wine, but they don’t create a perfect seal and won’t keep wine fresh for much time.

Inert Gas Systems: Actually Effective

Private Preserve and similar products spray inert gas (argon, nitrogen, CO2 blend) into open bottles, creating a protective blanket that prevents oxygen contact. This works well and is the method many wine bars use! It’s what we used in all the places I’ve bartended, and I can personally attest to their functionality.

A can costs $10-15 and lasts dozens of uses, keeping wine fresh for several days to a week, and maintaining quality noticeably better than vacuum pumps. If you regularly have open bottles, this is definitely worth the relatively small investment!

Coravin: The Luxury Preservation System

Coravin is the top-notch solution, letting you pour wine without removing the cork by piercing it with a thin needle and replacing the removed wine with argon gas. The cork reseals around the needle hole. Pretty crazy, right?!

If you want to drink expensive wines by the glass without committing to the whole bottle, there’s literally no comparable alternative. You can keep bottles for months or years, so if you’re serious about your wine collection and drinking, you’re in the right place. Coravin systems start around $200 for basic models and go up to $400+ for advanced versions.

Who needs this: People with expensive wine collections who want to taste bottles without fully opening them. Wine professionals. People who genuinely can’t finish bottles but want to drink good wine.

Who doesn’t need this: Most people. If you typically finish bottles within a few days or mostly drink wine under $30, the cost doesn’t justify the benefit.

Wine Thermometers and Chillers

Wine temperature significantly affects how it tastes, and I’ve found that most people serve reds too warm and whites too cold.

Ideal temperatures:

• Sparkling wines: 40-50°F
• Light whites: 45-50°F
• Full-bodied whites: 50-55°F
• Light reds: 55-60°F
• Full-bodied reds: 60-65°F

Room temperature is too warm for reds, seeing as it was originally created when European rooms were cooler than modern heated homes. Refrigerator temperature is too cold for most whites, muting aromatics and flavors and overall drying stuff out.

Wine Thermometers

Simple wine thermometers ($10-20) clip onto bottles and show the current temperature of your wine. They’re useful for learning what different temperatures feel like but oftentimes you’ll need them less and less as you develop your intuition for what’s “right”, over time.

Digital instant-read thermometers work but feel kind of unnecessary or overboard for casual wine drinking.

Wine Chillers and Coolers

Ice buckets are the classic solution and there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. All you have to do is fill it with half ice, half water for faster chilling. A good stainless steel ice bucket costs $20-50 and works better than most electric chillers.

Wine cooling sleeves that stay in your freezer ($15-25) work well for average use. Pull them out, wrap your bottle, and it stays cold for an hour or two.

Electric wine chillers exist but are also usually a bit unnecessary. They’re expensive ($100+), take up valuable counter space, and don’t work any better than a plain, old ice bucket.

Wine fridges are a different category all on their own, and I’ve gone into these in detail, too. They’re for storage, not immediate chilling,  so if you’re buying wine faster than you drink it and want proper long-term storage, a wine fridge maintains consistent temperature and humidity. Expect $150-500+, depending on the fridge capacity.

Foil Cutters, Drip Stoppers, and Other Small Tools

Foil Cutters

Most waiter’s corkscrews include a serrated blade that cuts foil perfectly well. Standalone foil cutters ($5-10) are faster and cleaner but completely optional. I’d honestly just stick with a nice wine key and call it good.

Drip Stoppers

Those little discs and spouts that prevent wine from dripping down the bottle actually do a nice job, and as I manage to somehow drip wine on anything white, I love these. They’re $5-10 and worth having if you’re like me. The Menu Wine Drop Stop Disc is well-designed and reusable.

Wine Bottle Stoppers

Dozens of decorative stoppers exist, though mine are typically gifts that end up in my junk drawer. If you need to reseal a bottle, the original cork works fine for a day or two. If you want something better, I’d suggest you spend money on a preservation system (vacuum pump or inert gas) rather than stoppers.

What’s Actually Just Marketing

Wine “enhancers” and instant agers: Devices claiming to age wine electronically or chemically are pseudoscience. Aging happens through complex chemical reactions over time, and as of today, no tool replicates this in minutes.

Overly specific glassware: You don’t need different Burgundy and Bordeaux glasses unless you’re a major aficionado.

Expensive wine keys with unnecessary features: Built-in thermometers, LED lights, and multi-tools are just a bit too extra.

Wine-scented candles and aromatherapy: These don’t improve wine drinking and could actually interfere with aromatics.

What to Buy: A Practical Shopping List

If you’re just starting out ($50-75 total):

• Pulltap’s double-hinged corkscrew ($15)
• Four universal wine glasses ($40)
• That’s it

If you drink wine regularly ($150-200 total):

• Quality waiter’s corkscrew ($20)
• Eight good universal glasses ($80)
• Decanter ($40)
• Private Preserve or similar inert gas system ($12)
• Ice bucket ($30)

If you’re genuinely into wine ($400-600 total):

• Professional corkscrew ($30)
• Multiple glass types for different wines ($150-200)
• Quality decanter ($75-100)
• Coravin system ($200+)
• Wine fridge if storing bottles long-term ($150-500+)

The Bottom Line

Most wine accessories are optional or solve problems you might not even have. The only truly essential tool is a good corkscrew. Beyond that, buy based on how you actually drink wine.

The best wine accessory is the one you’ll actually use, and no matter who you are, you likely aren’t going to use more than one or two regularly.

Kevin O'Neill

Kevin John O’Neill won his WSET level 3 award in 2018. He was a judge in the 2019 New Orleans International Wine Awards. In addition to his experience developing wine brands, he’s also managed millions of dollars in annual wine and spirits revenue.