I’m far from a wine enthusiast, but I enjoy a bottle or two on a somewhat weekly basis with my wife, whether paired with a meal or just a simple glass or two in the evening while relaxing and watching a good movie.

I’m also a lover of gadgets and accessories (though I tend to admire from afar rather than empty my wallet), and the number of wine accessories that exist is many. I’m not even talking about bottle openers. The endless parade of simple and small to overly clunky, just plain ridiculous bottle openers may tempt someone who feels the need for the latest and greatest wine opener, as promoted by magazines and home shopping networks. But I’m fine with a traditional corkscrew that fits neatly in a drawer or my pocket.

I’m more interested in accessories of practicality, and that narrows the playing field by quite a large number. Excluding such items as compact wine storage units and chillers, and fancy ice buckets or serving sets, and we are left with a decent selection of products that folk like myself can easily appreciate.

An opened bottle of red wine typically has a remaining shelf life of only a few days before losing its valuable flavor, white wines a few days longer. We rarely finish a full bottle of wine in one sitting, so opened bottles are common. But then we find ourselves forced to play a game of beat the clock, so to speak, to consume the wine before its alloted period of freshness has expired. A handy item that seeks to remedy this is the inexpensive Vacu Vin Wine Saver. Essentially, the Vacu Vin Wine Saver is a rubber stopper and a small pump that work in conjunction to conveniently remove the air from the bottle, thus halting the oxidation process and adding another week or two to the countdown.