| You do not need a college degree in wine tasting | | | | While it is said that white wines do not need to |
| to understand why some wines benefit from | | | | breathe, there are exceptions. Some Chardonnays |
| being able to breathe a bit. But you do need to | | | | will benefit from a few minutes of aeration. |
| know that simply uncorking the bottle and letting | | | | Really, the only way to tell if a wine needs to |
| it sit for an hour will do nothing to improve the | | | | breathe is to taste it. If there is a sharpness or a |
| taste or the smell of the wine, and you do need | | | | bitterness that you do not like, aerate the wine |
| to know that most white wines do not need to | | | | for five to ten minutes and see how it tastes. If |
| breathe at all. | | | | it is better, but needs more time, you can let it sit |
| What Happens When a Wine is "Breathing" | | | | in a decanter for a bit. Unfortunately, if this is |
| As you have probably guessed, you are not going | | | | your first time serving this kind of wine or this |
| to hear your wine inhaling and exhaling. Letting | | | | vintage of wine, you are going to be doing a bit |
| wine breathe is simply letting it aerate. By | | | | of guesswork. |
| exposing the wine to the air, the tannins in the | | | | How to Let a Wine Breathe |
| wine will mellow and give your wine a softer | | | | As mentioned before, simply uncorking the bottle |
| taste. This oxidation of the wine changes its | | | | is not enough. You need either a decanter, or just |
| chemistry a bit, so the smells are stronger and | | | | a wine glass. To let the wine breathe, pour it into |
| the sharpness of the acids is mellowed. This | | | | the decanter or the wine glass from as high |
| mellowing makes it nicer to really savor the wine, | | | | above as you are comfortable with. This is why |
| and thus you taste more flavor. | | | | the decanter helps -- unless you have a very |
| Which Wines Need to Breathe | | | | large wine glass, you probably are not going to be |
| Young red wines are the prime candidates for | | | | comfortable pouring from any higher than six |
| aeration. By "young" I mean anything less than | | | | inches above the glass. You can use almost any |
| four years old. Older wines (sometimes called | | | | wide-mouthed container as a decanter. Even a |
| "mature") have aged eight years of more. Also, | | | | vase will do in a pinch. |
| the heavier-bodied a red wine is, the more it will | | | | You can also ask for wine to be decanted for |
| benefit from a longer aeration time, like an hour. | | | | you at a restaurant. And this decanting is also |
| For example, a young Bordeaux or a Cabernet | | | | why all those waiters made such a show of |
| Sauvigon will probably benefit from aerating for an | | | | pouring out the first glass -- they were not being |
| hour, where a much lighter Merlot or Pinot Noir | | | | exhibitionists, they were trying to get as much as |
| would need barely five minutes or less to hit its | | | | air as possible into the wine. OK, maybe some of |
| peak. | | | | them were being exhibitionists. |