This is based on samples provided by the winery or organization acting on their behalf.

Everyone knows, you have to serve wine at an acceptable temperature for it to taste its best. It’s not that hard to get the wine to the right temperature for that first glass, but how about the second?

There are some decent options out there, but most are a bit messy. An ice bucket works great, but if not monitored, will get the wine too cold, and a bucket of ice just doesn’t look good on your dining room table. There are bottle wraps you throw in the freezer and slip around the bottle. Again, they work great and are better looking, but they can cause a puddle of water from the bottle sweating.

Enter the Angle33 Thermal.

This is a block of cement that is nicely finished with a hole in the middle for your bottle of wine. The Thermal retains its temperature very nicely, even on a warm day on your deck or patio.

The process is simple, the Thermal will retain its temperature ensuring the bottle inside also maintains the proper temperature. You can keep your thermal in your wine cellar, pop it in the refrigerator, or even pop it in the freezer to get it to the desire temperature.

After opening your bottle, simply put it in the Thermal and it will maintain the desired serving temperature for well over an hour.

We’ve put the Thermal in the freezer for an hour and been able to enjoy a cold and crisp Sauvignon Blanc for over an hour and a half on our deck using the Thermal.

The same goes for a bottle of red wine. I popped the Thermal in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and it kept our wine at a proper temperature for over an hour. In a side by side comparison, another bottle of wine was too warm after only 15 minutes on the sunny 80 degree day.

I know, who wants a chunk of concrete on their table? These are nicely finished and smooth. They are available in 5 colors and have a nice cork bottom to ensure your table or bar doesn’t get scratched.

The only catch is to order the proper size. My Thermal was the standard size and most bottles fit nicely. Some of the bigger bottles used by some wineries would not fit. It wouldn’t accommodate a bottle of Saxum or a bottle of Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc. Forget about trying to put a Turley Zin in this size Thermal. Luckily, the Thermal is available in three sizes. Standard, Pinot, and Champagne.

The price for the Standard and Pinot (for larger bottles) models are $64.99, the Champagne model, which also holds magnums is $69.99.

Much more information, videos, testimonials, and their other products are available on their website.

These are environmentally friendly and virtually indestructible.

These are available in the following colors:

Mineral, Pepper, Plum, Tobacco, and my color, Butter.

They will imprint your Thermal with artwork or a logo if desired.

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two. Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets. I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines. I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar. I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com. Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear. There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase. I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive. I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount. Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges. None of the prices include the sales tax.

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.