Usually I don’t get as excited about gadgets as my other half but this one is different. Why? Because it involves wine 🙂
If you are into wine (or just like entertaining) I think this is the perfect addition to any kitchen. The idea of the Hostess is that it cools or warms your wine to the perfect temperature to drink it in. It differentiates between reds, whites and sparkling wine and more importantly you can choose the grape variety you are drinking to enjoy it in the ideal temperature. And trust me, you CAN tell the difference! We have a wine fridge but almost always the wines are few temperatures colder than they should. On the contrast red wines can be too warm if they are consumed room temperature but we don’t always use it for the reds because if you are decanting the wine (pouring it into another container) you can’t really use the Hostess unless you pour it back into the bottle.. It’s just too much work for me but if you are not decanting the wine it won’t be an issue.
The temperature can be set between 5 and 19 degrees. Here are the different grape varieties/blends Hostess has:
WHITES
- Chardonnay (9 °C)
- Chablis (8°C)
- Semillion (9 °C)
- Chenic Blanc (7 °C)
- Muscadet (8 °C)
- Ice wines (6 °C)
- Sancerre (8 °C)
- Sauvignon Blanc (9°C)
- Pinot Grigio (9 °C)
- Sauternes (11 °C)
- Zindafel (8 °C)
- Rioja (8 °C)
- Riesling (8 °C)
REDS
- Beaujolais (12 °C)
- Beaujolais Nouv. (10 °C)
- Bordeaux (18 °C)
- Cabernet Sauvignon (19 °C)
- Chianti (15 °C)
- Merlot (18 °C)
- Non Vintage Port (14 °C)
- Vintage Port (19 °C)
- Pinot Noir (16 °C)
- Red Burgundy (17 °C)
- Rioja (16 °C)
- Rose (12 °C)
- Shiraz (18 °C)
- Valpolicella (14 °C)
SPARKLING WINE
- Asti Spumante (5 °C)
- Champagne (7 °C)
- Sparkling wine (7 °C)
The cooler has two chambers with individual temperature controls so you can cool your white wine at the same time as warming your red wine. Above is an example of two bottles of white wine that were put in at the same time. The left one was room temperature and on the right the bottle was straight from the wine fridge that is supposed to be 9 degrees celsius. It took several hours for the bottle on the left to reach the ideal temperature but the one on the right was ready to enjoy within 30 minutes.
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| Our Hostess is a twin model but they also have single bottle coolers which are ideal for travel. |
We only started getting more into wine a few years ago and when we first got the Hostess as a present we were using it every weekend. After 2 years of very frequent use the engine died and we had to get it replaced which is the only downside. I suppose you would think that it’s not worth it but I just couldn’t live without one after getting used to drinking wine at the perfect temperature. Also, the place where it was purchased from had no problems replacing it which made it convenient so they do come with a guarantee (usually it’s 1 year).
Since getting our Hostess I have been converting our friends and family to it as well. It looks stylish and complements our modern kitchen. The only thing you do need to remember is that it is a bit bulky so for this reason I wouldn’t leave it out on the kitchen counter unless I was actually using it. Secondly, if you have a white wine that you are chilling from room temperature it will take a really long time to reach it. The trick is to put the wines first in a wine fridge or normal fridge and then into the Hostess in order to reach the ultimate temperature. It seems to fit almost every bottle that is out there. I think there have been only few champagne bottles that were too big for it due to their odd shape so it is really not a common issue. It does make a humming sound when it’s trying to reach the ideal temperature but it’s really not that loud and has never bothered me.
Hostess is not perfect but for me it’s definitely worth it. If you are looking to chill wine quickly it’s not ideal for that. However, if you like cooking and pairing wine with food, then Hostess is a really cool way of adding to the enjoyment. Happy entertaining!
PS. For more about the hostess visit Hostess Range.
