Get the Most from your Wine
Deciding on the best way to let your wine breathe can be a difficult one.I am ready to start enjoying my glass of wine right away when I open a bottle. I generally don’t have much patience for allowing it to breathe.Why does wine need to breathe? By letting your wine breathe or aerate it allows for the full flavors to emerge and make the wine more palatable. While there are many wines that do not need to go through this process, it is good to know the little details that can make a big difference. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy your wine to its fullest potential.
The reason why wines needs to breathe, or age, is because of tannins. Tannins can transfer into wine during the fermentation process from seeds and skins of grapes. Fuller flavors will begin to surface when the tannins, which acts like a natural presevative, begin to break down. White wines and some red wines have low levels of these and therefore do not need aging, or periods of breathing, before drinking. Generally all red wines can benefit from aeration, but those that are lighter and fruitier generally don’t require much aeration.
The term breathing refers to the mixing of oxygen with wine allowing the breakdown of tannins. When you use a decanter your are allowing the wine to mix with oxygen, allowing fuller flavors engulf your taste buds.
If you choose to allow your wine to breathe, you still have one more decision to make. Do you use a decanter or an aerator? If you have at least an hour to let your wine breathe, then go ahead and use your decanter. This is plenty of time for your wine to mix with oxygen and for its full flavors to emerge.Just pour the wine into the decanter and let it sit for a while.Surface area is key to the amount of oxygen that can reach the wine; the more area, the sooner you can enjoy it.
If you just opened a bottle of wine five minutes before guests arrived, or you are only wanting to drink a single glass, decantors may not be the best way to aerate your wine.An aerator achieves the same end result as a decanter but in a fraction of the time. Two types of aerators are available: one that is seperate from the bottle, and one that attches as a spout directly in the bottle of wine.
The Vinturi essential wine aerator allows you to speed up the breathing process by mixing the perfect amount of air for the perfect amount of time to bring out the color, aroma, and flavor of your wines. All you do is pour your glass of wine through the aerator. It comes with a drip free stand so there is no mess to clean up.
The second option, which is more user friendly especially for multi-tasking person, is the Wine Finer . This easy to use aerator allows you to pour your perfectly aerated glass of wine and enjoy in an instant. After opening your bottle, just place the Wine Finer into the bottle and pour a glass of wine, you will hear “gurgling” noises which is the sound of the wine being aerated. With little effort you have brought out the full flavors from your wine.
So before you decide whether to get yourself a decanter or an aerator, consider your time constraints. Make sure you have the time to wait for the decanter or be safe and allow your wine to breath immediately with Vinturi or Wine Finer.
