Giving Your Wine a Chance to Breathe
From time to time, we all need to relax and take a deep breath and often the wine we drink needs a little fresh air too. After all, it has been trapped in that little bottle for years, sometimes decades. Decanting addresses this need and solves a few others too, though it’s not the only way to oxygenate wine.
Why would you want your wine to breathe? In the case of younger white and blush wines, it probably isn’t necessary or even helpful. Young reds, however, can be a bit tight and tannic. Given a chance to breathe, they become softer and the flavors open up. Most older wines benefit by the chance to throw off any stale aromas from their long time in the bottle.
There are several methods used to help wines breathe. The most basic way is to simply open the bottle. Since the top surface of the liquid is usually in the neck of the bottle, one needs to pour out enough wine to increase the surface area. Even then, breathing can take an hour or two to, though the wine poured into a glass will open up more quickly.
Decanting, by mixing in more air, speeds up the process. Well-aged wines, especially reds, often develop some sediment. After the bottle has been upright and undisturbed for at least twenty-four hours, careful decanting can separate the sludge from the clear vino. This requires a steady hand and no sloshing. A candle or flashlight under the exposed neck of the bottle helps one spot the undesired particles. That’s when you stop pouring.
Young red don’t need this sort of delicate treatment. In fact, the “glug-glug” method is suitable for all but the most prized wines. Simply open the bottle, invert a decanter and place its mouth over the neck of the bottle. Now, with one hand on the bottle and the other on the decanter, with one smooth motion, invert them as one unit so the bottle is on top and the wine glug-glugs into the decanter. This method introduces a lot of oxygen-containing air into the wine and really speeds up the process. Do not use this technique with old, delicate or sediment-loaded wines where it’s a bit too vigorous.
There’s an incredible variety of wine decanters available from the most simple to the sublime. Just remember that the greater the exposed surface of wine, the more quickly the wine will breathe.
Wine lovers on the go don’t have to drag around a bulky decanter, not with the broad array of aerating/oxygenating devices that have been created in the past few years. Ranging from oxygenating pourers that fit into the neck of the bottle such as the Menu Selection, to the hand or stand held Vinturi, their effectiveness has been tested and proven by many wine connoisseurs. They introduce air and mix it into the wine very effectively, whether used alone or with a decanter for the most tight, tannic wines.
Please keep in mind that wines that have been thoroughly aerated have a limited life and need to be consumed, not saved for later.
Try giving your wine a chance to breathe and you will be rewarded with a softer, more approachable and often better tasting glass. Cheers!
