Proper accessories are essential for wine enthusiasts

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A good corkscrew is absolutely essential; good glasses are imperative

Date published: 10/5/2005

AS EVERY FASHIONISTA will tell you, you must acces- sorize, darling! Thankfully, Dolce & Gabbana has yet to make a corkscrew; you don't have to pay designer prices for wine accessories.

There are a number of accessories that are useful to wine enthusiasts, and a few essentials that no self-respecting wine lover should do without. Many would argue the importance of each of these objects, but few would deny that they are important to some degree.

I believe that a good corkscrew is absolutely essential. It doesn't have to cost a fortune.

There are a few things to look for, the main criterion being the worm (the twisty bit in the middle).

The worm in a good corkscrew will not have sharp edges, which will crumble the cork. It also should be long enough to penetrate long corks. Teflon worms are good, but not necessarily essential.

The fancy lever corkscrews (Screwpull, Rabbit) are wonderful, but also rather expensive. If you consume a lot of wine, they are a good investment, but probably not necessary for the casual wine drinker.

Many corkscrews, such as the Waiter's Friend, come with a little blade attached. If you're anything like me, your fingers will have scars for years to come. Needless to say, I'm a klutz.

I use a foil cutter. A foil cutter is a useful item to have, but there are so many bad foil cutters on the market that it is hard to find one worth its money.

Why use a foil cutter? Because they avoid crumbly pieces of cork in your wine, and because many older (pre-1993) wines may still have lead foils.

For preserving opened bottles (yes, it can happen), I like the vacuum sealer. A small hand-operated pump with rubber stoppers is worth its weight in gold if you simply cannot finish that dust-covered gem that you found quite by accident.

For a really special bottle, it is worth buying one of the inert gas systems used by wineries. It's a small price to pay to be able to drink that 1982 Ch. Petrus over a period of time. Pouring it away would be sacrilege.

Date published: 10/5/2005