But who has hours or days to wait for this process to perform its magic? What is a Wine Decanter? Over many hours, the air can diffuse into the opened bottle of wine and provide a small degree of “resuscitation”. However, this accomplishes virtually nothing over a short period of time, as only the top layer of wine will be given access to the air. Some people think that merely taking the cork out of a bottle and letting it sit is enough to aerate wine. Decanting wine also makes it very easy to remove any sediment that has collected in the bottom of the wine bottle and avoid the distasteful particles that spoil the experience of a nice glass of wine. This simple process shifts the flavor profile of a wine, so it becomes more mellow, and the sharp, tannic characteristics of those full-flavored reds are significantly reduced. The process of aeration is commonly described as “letting a wine breathe”. When these molecules are present, they mask the more subtle tastes and aromas of the wine. These compounds are some of the most noxious compounds found in nature and can cause bitter taste even at very low concentrations. Does Wine Aeration Remove Sulfites?Ī little-known fact about aeration is that it also encourages the rapid evaporation of sulfite preservatives. As the air interacts with the wine, the air causes the rapid evaporation of the bitter tasting, foul smelling molecules that accumulate in a bottle of wine during storage. You see, the goal of aeration is to allow your wine to directly interact with nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the air. While most people tend to only bring out their decanters for those expensive “special occasion bottles”, you can get similar results from aerating that $10 bottle of Cab you bought at Publix. As silly as it sounds, some people may think this means your wine is “congested” or is about to be suffocated? As you’ll see, this age-old process is actually extremely important to maximizing the flavor and aromatic bouquet of a wine before it is consumed. The concept of “letting wine breathe” may sound a bit strange at first to the casual wine drinker. It is all about aeration or "letting wine breathe". In this article we'll talk about the purpose of a wine decanter and why it is important to decant wine.
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