“Breathing” and Aeration Wines can
sometimes be improved just before serving by
a period of aeration or “breathing.” Such a
treatment allows volatile substances in the
wine to escape into the air, and it allows
oxygen from the air to enter the wine, where it
reacts with volatile and other molecules and
changes the wine’s aroma. No significant
aeration occurs when a wine is simply
uncorked and left to sit in the open bottle. The
most effective way to aerate a wine is to pour
it, and into a broad, shallow decanter that
continues to expose a large surface area to the
air. Aeration can improve a wine’s aroma by
accelerating the escape of some off-odors (for
example, excess sulfur dioxide in some white
wines), and by providing a kind of accelerated
aging to young, undeveloped red wines. But it
allows desirable aromas to escape as well, and
can undo the complexity of a mature wine that
has developed slowly over years in the bottle.
Wine also absorbs oxygen when it’s
barry
(Barry)
#1