I just had to show you this. Mr. Rooster arrived this morning in a small box which was handed over the doorstep to me by the postman. Yet again, I had forgotten what I had ordered! I tell you, it’s Christmas Day many times through the year in this house.
I came upon Jane Maddison’s website quite by chance and, as with so many serendipitous finds, knew I could not leave without buying.
One of the perennial problems with wine drinking is finding a way to let the bottle breathe when it is first opened without letting in every fruit fly in the county while you are about it. We have balanced corks, balanced tea strainers- you name it, we have tried balancing many things on top of a wine bottle to keep the little buggers out. The husband suggested I “make something”. Keen to avoid adding to the towering piles of projects I already have in the spare room that are waiting to be made, I turned to the internet and put in “wine breather” never thinking it might be a “thing” already in existence. Well, it is.
Not only is it a thing, but it is a proper, beautifully hand-made, ceramic thing and comes in dozens of whimsical shapes. 47 different shapes are listed on her website. The website also explains that the maker’s mother had experienced the same problems we have always encountered with the blessed fruit flies and set about making a solution to the problem. The lady actually makes quite beautiful ceramics of all sorts but I have a feeling that the world is going to fall in love with these little wine breathers. Here’s a picture of the bottom:
These holes are very small and this part is porous, unglazed porcelain as well. It is not a stopper as it just sits on top of the bottle.
At right around the £20 mark, they are probably not going to break the bank and would make a brilliant present for anyone who does drink wine. While I am not a great lover of whimsical shapes, these are utterly charming items in real life rather than just in photos. I am also a Rooster in the Chinese astrology system and the Rooster also fit in with our Fantasy French Restaurant theme in the dining room. We are looking forward to putting him through his paces!
This link will take you to her website:
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Quotidian 