Reply With QuoteIf you cannot taste the difference you shouldn’t bother.
You should probably not buy expensive wine bottles either.
And if you do, listen to what the sommelier says.
Do you bother? Should you bother? Does it improve the taste? If you pay an exorbitant price for a bottle in a restaurant it’s opened in front of you so can I assume the practice is a waste of time and little more than pretentious nonsense.
If you cannot taste the difference you shouldn’t bother.
You should probably not buy expensive wine bottles either.
And if you do, listen to what the sommelier says.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Decant wine every time. As St Just says though, if you can not tell the difference then do not spend the money. Drink more wine and over time and different wines you will then find what you like.
Decanting makes a difference to the taste rather than opening a bottle and 'letting it breath'.
Last edited by Carl.1; 27th February 2020 at 10:39.
Not all wine benefits from being decanted, though if you don't have time to let it breath it can be a quick way to get some air to it. Most, though not all, wine benefits from time to breath.
Also to do with age, something fairly recent (5 to 7 years perhaps) will need decanting and left for an hour or more. Older stuff still needs decanting to capture any sediment, but doesn't need as much time as it will deteriorate at a quicker rate than the newer vintages.
Removing the cork to let it breath does absolutely nothing. You need to pour it out in order to let the air get at it. It also lets that horrible fart like smell from the gas at the top disappear.
Anything bought from a Supermarket at 3 for tenner are obviously excluded from the above as they are just mass produced chemical rubbish.
Mostly, wine is sold and drunk on the young side. The more the wine is built for the long term, the more it will benefit from the chance to do some accelerated ageing in open air. Mostly the benefit is in drawing out the flavour, but sometimes the texture opens out too.
(If a wine is fully mature, there is a chance that the bouquet will actually worsen if left to breathe. This only happened to me once, and the wine was 25 years old, and it was only the bouquet that suffered)
Pouring from the bottle into a jug and back into the bottle will do a lot of good for getting oxygen in. Similarly, having only a small amount of wine in a large glass will give you the chance to swish it around.
Modern winemaking techniques for bulk-made commercial wine take into account that it will be opened pretty soon after leaving the winery, and so include ways of breathing the wine a bit before bottling. (I've forgotten exactly what, sorry.)
In expensive restaurants they're hopefully selling wines from mature vintages, or at least ones which aren't in desperate need of breathing.
ps: General rule of thumb for any wine you've bought from a supermarket or similar, opening the bottle two hours in advance will probably do it good, and definitely won't do it any harm.
Last edited by Der Amf; 27th February 2020 at 11:22.
I’ve never bought wine even close to expensive but red wine does generally change if you try immediately on opening and then after.
In my limited experience, the change may be more or less so I’ll leave it to the better qualified to give structured advice/ views.
Tastes the same at the bottom of the bottle as it does at the top.
Although probably to be expected from lidl super weekend £2.99 bottles
Anyone else reading this thread and screaming "It's breathe" at their computer? ;-)
Are wine aerators any good?
Last edited by hogthrob; 27th February 2020 at 11:23.
Prefer to read the words without stressing about spelling. Maybe your vocation was to be an English school teacher then you could spend all day correcting stuff. Most spelling mistakes are caused by the bloody autocorrect being auto-incorrect.Originally Posted by hogthrob
And breatheeeee
On this forum only if they come with bragging rights or cost more than £1000.
Prefer to read the words without stressing about spelling. Maybe your vocation was to be an English school teacher then you could spend all day correcting stuff. Most spelling mistakes are caused by the bloody autocorrect being auto-incorrect.
And breatheeeee
I find the happy shopper "generic red" that comes in the 3ltr plastic container is much improved if you do this.
Let it breathe in our house and you'll probably find it's mysteriously 'evaporated'.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
The scientist in me says that the tiny surface area of wine exposed to the air in an opened wine bottle is very unlikely to allow any material difference. I can see how decanting/aerating the wine can permit more exposure and so could make more of a difference.
The wine drinker in me just says "Cheers!"
Lynn has that problem with whiskyLet it breathe in our house and you'll probably find it's mysteriously 'evaporated'.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
My favourite, pouring and a bit of gentle swilling in the glass gives it enough aeration. Once the bottle is finished - I suck the cork, it is that good.
Sunday Times wine club?My favourite, pouring and a bit of gentle swilling in the glass gives it enough aeration. Once the bottle is finished - I suck the cork, it is that good.
If you open a bottle and let it sit in the bottle, only the top of the wine is exposed to air anyway.
Hence the enthusiasm for transferring/decanting.
Peppermint flavoured burgundy anyone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cozw088w44Q
Just starting having this from Laithwaites. For a tenner or so it really is rather good. I used to use airators stuck in the top of the bottle but found little difference between that a fast pour into a glass. More expensive wine I do tend to try to decant it and let it sit for an hour or soMy favourite, pouring and a bit of gentle swilling in the glass gives it enough aeration. Once the bottle is finished - I suck the cork, it is that good.
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I use one of these with half decent Red Wine, I've blind tasted two of the same bottles, one that's been through it and one that hasn't and it does bring the flavour out more
https://www.johnlewis.com/le-creuset...E&gclsrc=aw.ds
Pour into a clean coffee cafetière and give it 20 pumps
Intimately exposes the wine to oxygen in the air which is “breathing” but done more quickly
Also traps any sediment before you put it in the decanter or back in the bottle
Works for me
Slurp
^^^
This for me too.
The surface area in the neck of a bottle is just too small to make a difference if not decanted.
I find one of these magic decanters / aerators really does boost the flavour of most decent red wines
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gobesty-Mag...809093&sr=8-13
and they are cheap.
I found out about them when doing a bit of wine tasting in the Swan Valley, Australia. The vineyard were looking to charge the thick end of £25.00, so we just ordered one from Amazon when we got back.
I also like the Cabalie as posted above.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Another fan of the cheap aerator from Amazon. Find that it improves the cheaper reds more than the expensive.
Although by the third bottle that evening who cares?
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You guys with your fancy gadgets and methods. For goodness sake, just pop the cork, (better still get ones with screw caps), stick a straw in and suck!
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
Me too. And pays for itself with cheaper plonk! I have found it can sometimes round off a full bodied red a little though, unfortunately.
Trying to pour the wine into the device does become tricky after a few glasses though!
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I personally use an IV drip...You guys with your fancy gadgets and methods. For goodness sake, just pop the cork, (better still get ones with screw caps), stick a straw in and suck!
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
My wife rates those, and she works in wine
Sounds like a sink or swim job!
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
In the TZ lexicon of tin-foil hattedness, letting red wine breathe isn't like speaker cable, it's like the Moon landings. There is empirical evidence* to show that it does make a difference.
*It's still a work in progress. I will continue with testing.
Haven't been able to drink red wine for a while but I used to use my vacuvin stopper and pump to aerate the wine.
1st Poor yourself half a glass* (to make room in the bottle)
2nd pump the air out say 4 times and bobs your uncle (depends how heavy the wine is) - the rapid surge of air in to the vacuum works well enough
* Disclaimer - your glass size may be different to mine
And, I'd be horrified if my wife worked in wine - all that fake tan, what a spoiler
Last edited by Suds; 27th February 2020 at 19:59.
"Lovely party. Where's your husband?"
"He's in the garage pumping his wine."
"Oh, sorry to hear that."
Will an AeroPress do the same job?
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I am not drinking any f**king Merlot!
A malbecuccino? Might work.
I'm guessing that's a quote from Sideways?
I use one and often try before and after comparisons and it seems to make a difference. I normally drink stuff in the £8 - £20 price range.
Thee be correct
Have you formed any conclusions yet?
Sorry, I meant to say yes! In a blindfold test I can honestly say the wine tastes better after going through the aerator (definitely smoother).
We have one of these, marvellous little piece of kit and does make a difference
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Interesting (and thank you).
Ditto for The cafetière trick- run half the bottle through and taste side by side.....
I've also found that these can make a difference if I'm too impatient to wait before my first glass! And Cabalie is my go-to case with Laithwaites.
If you weren’t already aware, certain Laithwaites wines can also be bought in certain Budgen stores (if they’ve got a Laithwaites concession). The Cabalie is normally one of them.
I do air them, if i'm impatient, then I run the wine through the aerator into the decanter which does the trick, and certainly can tell the difference.
I decant vintage wine to separate the wine away from the sediment. Often it improves, sometimes further in the glass. But most wine is made to be drunk early, the exceptions are obvious, and doesn’t really improve with decanting. I’ve found a decent glass does more for most wine than decanting.
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