THE VINOVATION O2 WINE™ STORY
THE VINOVATION O2 WINE™ STORY
I'm Rocco!
Wine has been a part of my life since my earliest childhood memories. Being born in an Italian family that immigrated from Southern Italy, we were always busy preparing to preserve something every season. From curing meats to making homemade tomato sauce. And, most importantly, my favorite time of the year, making wine!
September was still warm and the excitement to start school again mixed with the aroma of wine as my family prepared for the wine making process. Every year I remember getting in trouble for sticking my fingers in the freshly pressed grape juice as it dripped. Wine always surrounded me and really was part of my family life.
Fast forward to my first visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake. When I saw the joy and happiness of people visiting the wineries, the inns and the restaurants, I quickly became a “wine member”. And so, the education began. The wine tours explained the life of the grape and the wine maker like a romance novel. After reading many wine books and newsletters I became knowledgeable and even more enthusiastic.
Our Why
The importance of aeration was at the forefront of our discussions. There weren’t many aerators on the market at the time as most aeration was done through special funnels and decanters. As time went on more attention was being given to adding air to wine and more aerators started to appear on the market. But I didn’t feel these were enough to fully aerate the wine to bring out its best.
The Process
The idea for the Vinovation O2 Wine™ Aerator was born one day when I noticed my sons’ favorite bath time toy. It had a tiny pump that sprayed up water while floating. What if I could create a fountain-like aerator that could re-circulate wine in a decanter. This stayed with me for 2 years until I was encouraged by my family to see if I could manifest this idea into reality. A year later the drawings began. Near the end of 2016 testing started on a crude prototype. In 2018 we turned to a design manufacturer, and we continue to move forward and haven’t looked back since!