Grand Cru Barware: Which Wine Tool Does What Over an Evening

Rosendahl's Grand Cru Barware series has four small tools for wine, and at first glance they look like variations on one idea: black and steel, compact, sculptural. They are not interchangeable. This guide follows a single evening, from the first bottle to the half bottle left at the end, and explains which piece does which job.

Four tools, four jobs

Grand Cru began as Rosendahl's house range of glassware and tableware, with Erik Bagger behind much of its look, and the barware carries the same design lines over to the bar table. The wine tools split neatly by task. One opens the bottle. One pours cleanly. One pours while giving a young wine more air. One closes the bottle again when the evening is over.

Two of the four are by Erik Bagger, one is by the Danish designer and wine expert Tom Nybroe, and the corkscrew is credited to Rosendahl itself. All four share the black and steel finish, so they sit together as a set even though they were not drawn by one hand.

Opening: the corkscrew

The GC Barware Corkscrew H16.5 black/steel is the only piece in the group that works on the cork rather than on the wine. It stands 16.5 cm tall, 8.5 cm wide and 2.5 cm deep, and weighs 0.19 kg, which is enough heft to feel solid in the hand without being awkward to put in a drawer. The handle is solid cast metal: zinc alloy with a chromium plating. The legs are covered in a soft touch finish, in PP, and that detail matters more than it sounds. It gives a firm grip on both the corkscrew and the bottle neck, so the hand that steadies the bottle and the hand that pulls are not both slipping on bare metal.

Its form is deliberately sculptural, so it can be left out on a tray or a sideboard between bottles rather than hidden away. If you open more than one bottle in an evening, that is a practical advantage: it is where you left it.

Pouring: the wine pourer for clean service

Once the bottle is open, the next problem is the drop that runs down the neck and onto the tablecloth after every glass. The GC Barware Wine Pourer H8 cm black/steel by Erik Bagger solves it. It sits in the neck of the bottle, 8 cm high with a diameter of 2.5 cm, and the silicone section holds it in place while the stainless steel spout directs the wine. Rosendahl describes two effects: the pourer gives the wine a surface as it pours, which aerates it a little and helps the taste develop, and it stops the bottle from dripping.

This is the everyday tool of the four. It suits white wine, a lighter red, or any bottle that will be emptied over one meal. At 0.05 kg it adds almost nothing to the weight of the bottle, so it does not change how the bottle feels when you lift it to pour.

Aerating a young red: Tom Nybroe's decanting stopper

A young, firm red wine often benefits from more air than a short spout can give. A decanter is the classic answer, but it means pouring the whole bottle out in advance. The GC Barware Pouring, aerating and decanting stopper black/steel offers a middle route, and it is the most technical piece in the series.

It was designed by Tom Nybroe, who works as both designer and wine expert, and its proportions follow from that. At 24 cm high and 3 cm in diameter, it reaches well down into the bottle. Rosendahl explains that the length and the holes in the stopper are aligned to aerate the wine as it passes through, expanding the surface area of the wine on each pour so the bouquet can open up. In effect it brings part of the decanting step into the act of pouring, one glass at a time. Like the smaller pourer, it also stops the bottle from dripping.

Use it for the bottle that will benefit from it: a young Bordeaux style blend, a structured Nebbiolo, a Syrah that seems closed when first opened. For a delicate older wine, where the aim is to preserve what is already there, the simpler pourer or a plain glass pour is usually the better choice.

Closing: the wine stopper for the half bottle

The last task of the evening is the bottle that is not finished. Erik Bagger's GC Barware Wine stopper H9 cm black/steel is 9 cm high with a diameter of 2.5 cm, in stainless steel and silicone. Rosendahl describes it as leak-proof, and that tight seal extends the life of an opened bottle. Put the closed bottle in the refrigerator and the wine keeps longer still, a point that applies to reds as much as to whites, as long as you bring the red back up to temperature before serving.

The stopper and the pourer share the same 2.5 cm diameter, so it is easy to keep one in each bottle on the table and swap them over when the meal ends.

Building a small set and caring for it

For most homes, the corkscrew, the pourer and the stopper cover every evening: open, pour cleanly, close. Add the aerating stopper if you often drink young red wine, or if you like to open a bottle and serve it straight away rather than decanting ahead of time. The series also includes a foil cutter, which completes the opening routine for anyone who prefers a clean cut below the lip.

Care is simple but specific. None of the four pieces is dishwasher safe, and Rosendahl recommends hand washing. Rinse the pourer and the aerating stopper in warm water straight after use, so wine does not dry inside the spout or the holes, then let them dry upright. Wipe the corkscrew with a damp cloth and dry it, which keeps the chromium plating bright.

The tools also make a considered gift for a host, especially paired with a bottle chosen to suit them. If you are pouring into Grand Cru glasses, our comparison of the Grand Cru tumbler, red, white and champagne glasses covers which shape suits which wine. For decanters, carafes and more tools for the bar table, browse Carafes, Jugs & Bar.