It's Friday, the end of a long week. You have decided to open a bottle to celebrate. Maybe it's an older bordeaux, or a young, vibrant Austrian grüner veltliner. You pour a bottom into the glass and smell it. A wave of disappointment overwhelms you because the wine smells like burnt matches and rotten eggs.
No stress. Proper aeration may be all the wine needs.
Let's be clear right away: not all wine needs to be decanted. Decanting is especially necessary for younger, red wines that need maximum aeration, or for older wines to remove sediment.
Virtually any wine, however, will improve with some aeration, whether in a decanter or by a quick swirl in the glass. So how much time does a wine need to breathe? And how long do you need to swirl? The answer is ... it depends.
If you have a young, lush and very tannic red Rhone, you should probably decant it for at least an hour to soften the tannins. This is true for most wines of similar structure and concentration. But for an easy-drinking New Zealand sauvignon blanc, something that is fresh, tangy and full of aromatic citrus, an hour's breath can dull the qualities that give the wine its character.
A few swirls and a little time to breathe in the glass, however, will usually help remove reductive or sulfur-related aromas from the wine.
Here are a few tips for determining how long a wine should breathe.
Pour a bottom at home, too
Like a sommelier in a restaurant, pour a small bottom to smell and taste before pouring a full glass. Some wines may have some reducing or sulfurous notes, which emerge mainly as aromas of rubber, burnt matches or rotten eggs. Often these aromas disappear after 10-15 minutes. You can choose to decant, but it may be easier to pour a small glass and swirl to see if those aromas fade.
Young, tannic red wines need oxygen to soften the tannins
Whether it's a young napa cab, an Argentine malbec or Aussie shiraz, these wines typically need a dose of oxygen to remove any roughness and soften tannins. Of course, if you enjoy the kick these wines can give right out of the bottle, you don't have to wait. Letting them breathe for too long can overly soften their lush character.
Still, most young, tannic-rich red wines can benefit from vigorous rolling (from 10-20 minutes). This will help open up big, brooding wines and bring out overwhelming oak notes and allow them to fully integrate with the fruit and often high alcohol content.
Older vintage wines can be drunk straight from the bottle
There is a common misconception that older wines all need to be carbonated for several hours. The truth is that even a few minutes in a decanter can cause an older, delicate wine to oxidize excessively. It can wipe out the drinking window in just a few seconds.
Still, there are wines that have been aged longer, usually wines that began with high levels of tannins, alcohol content and fruit concentration, that will benefit from a few minutes in the glass to fully open. These may also potentially benefit from decanting.
The rule of thumb for older wines is that the lighter and older a wine is, the less aeration is needed. When in doubt, pour a small amount into a glass and smell and taste it. Red wines tend to lose color with age, meaning the lighter in color the wine appears, the less aeration it probably needs. An inky, bright ruby, opaque older wine needs more oxygen. The opposite is true of white wines, which gain color as they age.
White and sparkling wines generally do not need aeration
That is not to say that all white and sparkling wines cannot benefit from a little oxygen. If reducing notes are detected in a white wine, at least give it some air and possibly 10-15 minutes in a decanter. The same goes for those rich, deep golden white wines that may need a little "room to stretch their legs." But the vast majority of these wines can be drunk straight from the bottle.
If you pour a bottom and the wine is a little lackluster or not as aromatic as expected, add a little more to your glass and swirl well. The problem usually resolves itself.
Enjoy the process
One of the best aspects of tasting wine is to see how it develops from the moment it is opened to the last sip. It allows you to fully appreciate the journey it took to get there. So while aerating and decanting some wines will certainly help bring them to their ideal drinking window, it is a great pleasure to taste the natural evolution of the wine after it is opened.
Source: WineEnthusiast
