Why is it recommended to leave a good bottle of wine un corked before drinking?!
Why is it recommended to leave a good bottle of wine un corked before drinking?
The other week I bought a reserve Rioja (I splashed out) and the guy in the shop told me to bring it up beyond room temperature and un cork it and leave it a while before drinking, whats the benefits of this! The wine was lovely too.
Answers:
Good question. The decanting and letting wine breathe will largely depend on the age and style of wine. Not all wines benefit from letting it breathe.
If a wine is high in tannins, the letting of wine breath acts as a way to artificially age the wine to encourage complex secondary aromas. Much of the enjoyment and taste of the wine depends on its nose. When a wine feels "tight" then letting it breathe for a bit will probably benefit the wine.
I have had many reds where the first glass is so-so, but after decanting the wine and letting it sit for an hour or so, the wine became wonderful.
For the science behind it, see the link below.
Source(s):
http://www.winevac.net/01_cms/details.as...
It let's the wine "breathe" while it's sitting there uncorked. It allows for slight controlled oxidation that should positively affect the flavors of the wine and hopefully let it mellow out a little before you drink it.
Because it needs to breathe. No, it doesn't have lungs, but it's like coming home from work and changing into your comfy clothes after being restrained all day in your work clothes. It says, "aaaahhhhhh..."
Letting it breathe for a bout 5-10 minutes after uncorking it improves the flavor, relaxes it.
air helps the molecules expand and it tastes better
(I just made that up but it sounds good)
In tests, wine experts have never been able to tell whether a bottle has been opened for a while or not.
Tubeyes and TreeHugg... are correct. The explanation also explains why wine glasses are shapped the way they are. It's not all for show, but the form of the glass allows the wine to continue breathing. :-)
This seemingly simple question is a subject of serious study among the sommelier set. To let a wine "breathe" is to expose it to air. This may change the flavor of a wine, but not necessarily for the better. The theory is that air can mellow the tannic or astringent quality in some types of wines. Typically, age is what mellows these flavors.
The only wines that really need to breathe are dry reds that are meant to be aged for many years before serving. If you serve them too young, they'll need to breathe first to achieve some of the complex flavor that age would have given them. Letting a wine breathe is a poor substitute for aging the wine in the bottle, but it's the best you can do if you've already opened that classic red.
If you have a very fine bottle of red that might need to breathe, the safest thing to do is pour a glass and taste it. If the flavor isn't satisfactory, let it breathe in the glass for a short time -- such as while you eat dinner. A wine that tastes especially "tight" or tannic might need to breathe for an hour or two. The longest you might let a wine breathe would be about five hours, but be careful because exposing wine to air for too long may ruin it.
Wine won't get much breathing room if left in an uncorked bottle. To allow air to touch more of the wine's surface area, decant the wine by pouring the whole bottle into another container, such as a glass decanter with a wide body. The action of pouring the wine will expose it to a lot of air, so if you don't have a decanter, a simple carafe or jug will give the wine more room than its original bottle and work just as well.
if you drink the red wine the temperaures must be about near 18°
but if the wine is white must be very could
a good wine is italian ,barolo or chianti
or chile wine torres
argentina sirah
bye
i love wine
ooh the tease, the slightly acidic, yet deliciously tempting aroma filling the room, God bless your endurance that you can leave it to breathe. I'm there holding my breath for the moment of bliss to arrive, the glass of wine to the lips..
Who gives a s*** just get the the bottle down your neck, who cares about letting it breathe
You were given wrong information. As Humphrey Bogart said in Casablanca (1942), "I was misinformed." Serve at room temperature means between 17 to 20 degrees Celsius depending on the type of red wine. If it is really good wine, decant it to aerate it. Many people mistakenly serve red wine too warm!
room Temp is mostly too warm, it should be around 64 to 66 deg.
and yes opening a bottel of Red for a 1/2 hr on some wines makes all of the diffence
NO it doesn't change anything!! As no oxygen got in the wine, its just in contact with a very small surface...
What you need to do is to make sure the wine be at a correct temperature, which depend mostly on the season (cooler in summer etc...).
Then you open it AND taste it (pouring a glass actually get some oxygen IN the wine - just popping the cork does about nothing). If you like the wine when you taste it its good enought... If you find it to 'hard'(dry your mouth) or it has an off taste i would pour it in a jug and try it at regular intervales (you can also leave it in the bottle or even shake the bottle if its a young wine...), when you like it go for it...
If you drink by yourself or with one friend, have little glasses over a long time and you will see (taste) the wine change...
ENJOY!!...
Room temperature for red yes. As to opening it an hour before to "let it breathe", that's rubbish in my opinion.
Watch out for that Rioja! Used to be good when it first came out of Spain but the area has been extended & you can buy some plonk called Rioja at a silly price. The best comes from "up the hill" & is very good as you found...!
just opening it isn'y going to do a lot, tiny little surface area. Decant it into a wide wine decanter, does make a difference, i swear it is not psycological.