What follows is a draft of a section of the FAQ on wine magnets. Asalways, any and all comments welcome.---------------- Begin C&P ----------------------9. Do those magnetic wine thingies really age your wine instantly? Magnetism is a continuous wellspring of pseudoscience owing to ageneral lack of public understanding of the nature of magnetism. In thewine world, this has given rise to a number of devices that claim tomake wine “smoother,” “mellower” or to taste aged by means of a magnet. Many of these devices are praised by one or more wine authorities asdoing exactly what’s advertised, but the fact remains that THEY DO NOTWORK. Magnetism is a very weak force that’s incapable of changingmolecular structure. So, why do so many reputable people claim thatthey work? That’s the problem with anecdotal evidence that hasn’t beencollected in a rigorous (i.e., double blind) manner. The power ofsuggestion is strong, so it’s easy to convince yourself that something’shappening if you’re looking for it to begin with. If, after all ofthis, you still aren’t convinced that the device in question is just anexpensive placebo, go out and get one and try it for yourself. Rememberthat it won’t hurt the wine either!Pertinent references:2------------------ End C&P ------------------------------Mark Lipton

references:2It looks good to me, and I am glad you included the 3 references. Butthere are always other magic devices that are being introduced. Forexample, for only $US 299.95 you can have:"Clef du Vin is a scientifically-designed measuring device made from amix of precious metals. Made for all wines, Clef du Vin, when dippedinto a glass of wine, will age the wine one year for each second thealloy is in contact with the wine. Two seconds equals two years fromnow, three seconds equals three years from now, etc. Take theguesswork out of collecting with this invaluable tool. For the seriouscollector. The Elegance 3-piece set includes a pocket, service andbottle model with cherrywood accents."For those without the spare cash for the above, there is a portablesingle piece model for only $99.95.

[FAQ draft] 9. Do those magnetic wine thingies really age your wine instantly?

Feb 20, 2007 21 Replies

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Fred 19 years ago

"cwdjrxyz" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

If you leave it in for a few minutes, hundreds of seconds the equvalent of hundreds of years, will the wine be spoiled?

Fred.

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Max Hauser 19 years ago

"cwdjrxyz" in news: snipped-for-privacy@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com :

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Thanks for those links.

Randi by the way (as some of you surely know) has been a remarkable speaker. He was hired to speak on this sort of stuff years ago, at a professional meeting I attended. He also has appeared on TV documentaries. Randi made an important career demonstrating how people can be fooled by charlatans seeking money (after his first career as prof'l magician doing the same thing, for entertainment).

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