Wine aerator

A device for aerating wine in a bottle, comprising:

• an elongated, upright conduit having one end region in fluid communication with the wine, and an opposite end region in fluid communication with the atmosphere;
• a rotary shaft located within, and extending along, the conduit;
• a wine blade on the shaft within the conduit for drawing the wine as a wine flow into the one end region in an upward direction toward the opposite end region of the conduit upon rotation of the shaft;
• an air blade on the shaft within the conduit for causing the air to move as an air stream into the opposite end region in a downward direction toward the one end region of the conduit upon rotation of the shaft;
• and
• a drive for rotating the shaft, the wine blade and the air blade to propel the wine flow and the air stream against each other in a mutually countercurrent relationship and to commingle the wine flow and the air stream inside the bottle.

A method of aerating wine in a bottle, comprising the steps of:

• immersing one end region of an elongated, upright conduit to be in fluid communication with the wine, and exposing an opposite end region of the conduit to be in fluid communication with the atmosphere;
• locating a rotary shaft within, and extending the shaft along, the conduit;
• drawing the wine as a wine flow into the one end region in an upward direction toward the opposite end region of the conduit upon rotation of a wine blade mounted on the shaft within the conduit;
• admitting air into the opposite end region of the conduit;
• and
• rotating the shaft and the wine blade to draw the wine as a wine flow into the one end region of the conduit in an upward direction toward the opposite end region of the conduit into communication with the air admitted into the bottle.