Patent Publication Number: US-6702193-B1

Title: Wine tasting straw

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention, in general relates to wine tasting and, more particularly, to devices that facilitate the testing and comparison of wines. 
     The comparison of wines is an important determination to wine producers. Accordingly, wine tasters, that is people with an especially acute awareness of wine qualities, judge the attributes of many different wines. Reports in magazines, articles in various publications, and even more important, the awarding of ribbons and ranking of wines is influential in determining the sales and price of various vintage wines as well as the renown of the wine producers. 
     It is also important to the wine tasters themselves to be optimally able to accurately determine the subtle differences that occur between the various wines if their opinion is to be well regarded. These subtle differences include complexities and flaws that the average person is unaware of. 
     Currently, wine tasters use a glass to swirl the wine and sample its aroma. A sip is followed by sucking air into the mouth through pursed lips in what is commonly known as a “reverse whistle”. The mixing of the wine with air is also sometimes referred to as “volatizing the esters”, which is a more technical term of the process. 
     The reverse whistle aerates the wine and it is the infusion of air that helps to reveal the wine&#39;s various complexities and also its flaws, especially the more subtle ones. 
     However, after thus having sampled a few different wines, the ability to differentiate naturally diminishes. Wine tasters currently cleanse the palette by either sipping water or by consuming crackers or bread between the various samplings. The more wine that is consumed the more difficult cleansing of the palette becomes. Therefore, it is clearly desirable to limit the quantity of wine that is required to be consumed so that cleansing of the palette is easier and more effective. 
     While it is not generally regarded as an issue, wine does include alcohol and it is conceivable also that it is desirable to reduce the quantity of alcohol (i.e., wine) that is consumed so as to ensure that the perception of the wine taster is not substantially affected by a potential increase in the blood alcohol content level. 
     However, aside from the quantity that is consumed there is another problem inherent in the above approach. Before aeration can occur the wine taster first must take a sip. Then the reverse whistle procedure is used to aerate the wine, as was described hereinabove. 
     The problem is that the reverse whistle is no longer able to aerate a pure, undistorted and undiluted sample of the wine. This is because the wine has already mixed with the saliva in the wine taster&#39;s mouth. 
     The saliva affects the acidity (i.e., the pH) of the wine and accordingly, the character of the wine itself is altered before it is ever critiqued. The wine taster is discerning not the essence of the pure, original wine, but to some extent, how that particular wine reacts with the chemistry of his own saliva. This can vary from taster to taster, only increasing the subjectivity of any test result. 
     When the taster is looking for the most subtle of differences for a great many wine attributes, this becomes a significant obstacle. The wine is also diluted to some extent by the saliva prior to aeration and subsequent analysis. Analyzing an aerated but diluted wine sample is certainly not an optimum condition, yet this is all that the industry has had to rely upon thus far. 
     It is desirable to provide a device and method for tasting wines that is easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture and sell. This would permit amateur wine tasters to practice their art and improve their own ability to discern the various wines apart from each other. 
     Conventional straws are not used for a number of reasons, a principle one being related to sediments that accumulate at the bottom of a glass of wine. This concentration of sedimentation is to be avoided during tasting of the wine. Also, conventional straws would introduce far too much fluid for sampling. 
     There is a further need also and that is for aesthetics. Wine tasting is regarded much as an art form, and those who scrutinize wines regard themselves as experts in the field, artists skilled in the art of discerning subtle nuances of taste, hue, complexion, aftertaste, etc. Any device relied upon must be aesthetically appealing to the wine taster, as well as functional. 
     Accordingly, there exists today a need for a product and method of aerating a wine prior to tasting (i.e., sampling or critiquing) that infuses or mixes air with the wine before the wine makes contact with the saliva of the user. It is also desirable to be able to limit the quantity of wine that must be sampled. 
     Clearly, an apparatus that provides an aerated sample of undistorted wine would be a useful and desirable device. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     Wine tasting devices are not generally, known. The only known prior art device that even vaguely resembles the instant invention is known as a “bombilla” which the dictionary of the Spanish Academy defines as a “thin tube that is used to suck the mate in America, it has about twenty centimeters long and half a centimeter of diameter and the end of the tube where the liquid is introduced is almond-like full of little holes, so that the infusion passes but not the dried leaves (yerba) of the mate.” 
     While the structural appearance of the above described device, at first appearance, may have similarities with the present invention, it differs in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior known device. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a wine tasting straw that is inexpensive to manufacture. 
     It is also an important object of the invention to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to aerate a beverage. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to aerate a wine. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to aerate a wine prior to the wine substantially contacting a quantity of saliva in a mouth of a user. 
     Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to lessen a quantity of wine that is required for critiquing by a person skilled in the art of tasting wines. 
     Yet another important object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to lessen the difficulty of cleansing the palette of a person skilled in the art of tasting wines. 
     Still yet another important object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that automatically infuses air into the fluid stream as a wine is sucked through the straw. 
     Still yet another important object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that does not draw sediments that have accumulated at the bottom of a container into an intake fluid stream. 
     A still further important object of the invention is to provide a method of infusing air into a fluid stream as a fluid is being sucked through a straw. 
     Briefly, a wine tasting straw that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention has a hollow shaft with a first opening that is elevated above the bottom of the straw and is adapted for intake of a liquid (i.e., the wine). A second and smaller opening is disposed along the length of shaft and, during use, is disposed above the liquid. When a partial vacuum is created by sucking on an upper end of the straw, both wine and air are simultaneously drawn into the straw, thereby aerating the wine prior to its entry into the mouth of a taster (i.e., a user). 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     The drawing FIGURE is a side view of a wine tasting straw in a container of wine (container and wine in dashed lines). 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the FIGURE is shown, a wine tasting-straw, identified in general by the reference numeral  10 . The wine tasting straw  10  can be formed of any desired material and of any preferred size. A preferred material for the wine tasting straw  10  is glass and a preferred overall length is approximately seven inches. The only restriction is that the material used must not influence or affect the taste of the fluid that is being drawn through the wine tasting straw  10 . 
     The wine tasting straw  10  includes a solid bottom  12  at a lower end thereof. A first opening  14  is disposed a predetermined distance above the solid bottom  12 , for example one-quarter of an inch above the bottom  12 . The reason the first opening  14  is elevated above the bottom of the wine tasting straw  10  is to prevent any sedimentation  16  from being drawing into the wine tasting straw  10  during use. 
     The sedimentation  16  precipitates from certain wines  17  and settles to the bottom of a container  18  (i.e., a glass shown in dashed lines). If the sedimentation  16  were to be consumed it would greatly color the flavor and prevent an accurate tasting from occurring. 
     The bottom  12  is preferably smooth and rounded as well. This shape further improves aesthetic appeal. The bottom  12  includes a smooth interior  13  that is formed of a solid material (i.e., glass) that eliminates pockets and corners where the wine  17  might otherwise collect and pool, thereby distorting subsequent samples through the introduction of a residual quantity of the wine  17  from a previous tasting. 
     The wine tasting straw  10  includes a hollow core  20  that begins at an upper end  21  and which extends to the first opening  14 . The wine tasting straw  10  acts as a conduit from the upper end  21  to the first opening  14  and is used to convey the wine  17  that enters the wine tasting straw  10  at the first opening  14 , passing through the hollow core  20  and out the upper end  21  when a user (not shown) places his or her lips around the upper end  21  and draws (i.e., sucks) from the upper end  21 . This action creates a partial vacuum in the wine tasting straw  10  that draws the wine  17  in through the first opening  14  and up through the wine tasting straw  10  as was described hereinabove. 
     The first opening  14  is sufficiently large so as to readily allow the intake of a fluid to occur therein. 
     Disposed along the longitudinal length of the wine tasting straw  10  intermediate the upper end  21  and the first opening  14  is a second opening  22 . 
     The second opening  22  extends through the wall of the wine tasting straw  10  into the hollow core  20 . The second opening  22  is considerably smaller in diameter than is the first opening  14  and preferably, should not exceed one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. 
     In use the second opening  22  is disposed above the wine  17  and is open to ambient air. 
     When the user sucks on the upper end  21 , the second opening  22  is too small to instantly replenish the air that is initially being drawn out of the wine tasting straw  10  (i.e., the hollow core  20 ). Accordingly, a partial vacuum is created and maintained sufficient to also draw the wine  17  in through the first opening  14  and up along the length of the hollow core  20 . 
     If the second opening  22  were made too large, the wine tasting straw  10  would not operate because any partial vacuum would then be insufficient to also force, because of an insufficient difference between ambient air pressure and the pressure in the hollow core  20 , the wine  17  to enter at the first opening  14  and travel upward and through the entire length of the hollow core  20 . 
     When the wine  17  rises to the level of the second opening  22 , the ambient air that is simultaneously being drawn into the hollow core  20  mixes with the wine  17  and automatically aerates it. This aeration occurs prior to the wine  17  contacting any saliva or other substances that may be present in the mouth of the user, thereby ensuring that an accurate, undistorted tasting of an aerated sample of the wine  17  can occur. 
     Furthermore, because the size of the second opening  22  in comparison to the first opening  14  is fixed and because this ratio determines the air/wine  17  mixture that is drawn into the wine tasting straw  10 , all samples taken are uniformly aerated, thereby removing this as a potential source of variability such as would occur if the user were to draw more or less air into his mouth using instead the prior art “reverse whistle” process. 
     Furthermore, only a small quantity of the wine  17  need be sampled making it much easier to cleanse the palette. Accordingly, the user can more accurately critique various samples. 
     The wine tasting straw  10  itself does not pool the wine  17  and may readily be used to sample another type of wine (not shown). If desired, it can be rinsed out, shaken, or cleaned in any preferred way. 
     Enhancements made to the wine tasting straw  10  include a clip  24 , similar to a type of clip (not shown) that is used to secure a pen to a shirt pocket (not shown). Similarly, the wine tasting straw  10  may be secured to a shirt pocket by use of the clip  24 . 
     The clip  24 , as shown, is plain in appearance. Ornamentation  25  can be added separately to the wine tasting straw  10  or it can be included within the design of additional modified types of clips (not shown). The ornamentation  25  preferably includes a grape cluster and it is also preferable to provide an enlarged area on an upper portion of the ornamentation  25  that resemble a grape leaf and which can be used as a finger rest during use. 
     The clip  24  is preferably secured along the longitudinal length of the wine tasting straw  10 . A recess  26  is provided into which a band portion of the clip  24  contracts and fits. Alternately, a pair of raised protrusions  28  can be used to secure the clip  24  along the longitudinal length of the wine tasting straw  10 . How the clip  24  is secured is a matter of design choice. 
     The preferred shape for the wine tasting straw  10  includes at least one upper curved portion  30  and preferable also a lower curved portion  32  so as to resemble an “S” in shape. This is more aesthetically appealing than a purely linear configuration, although a linear configuration (not shown) would certainly function well. 
     To further improve aesthetics, the wine tasting straw  10  may include a plating  34 , for example a gold plating, over any desired portion. 
     The invention has been shown, described, and illustrated in substantial detail with reference to the presently preferred embodiment. It will be understood by those skilled in this art that other and further changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined by the claims appended hereto.