Why Wine Needs to Breathe
Wine needs to breathe, or aerate, because many wines are best served after they have been exposed to the air for a short period of time. Some of the flavors and aromas need to move around a bit after being trapped inside the bottle. This is especially true for younger, tannic wines. Allowing the wine to breathe and move around a bit after opening the bottle will allow the wine’s flavors to mellow and the aromas to open up.
Letting the wine just sit there with the cork off is not an effective way to let a wine breathe. This is because the small opening at the bottle of the neck is not wide enough to let enough air in to interact with the wine inside. A wine will aerate more effectively when the most surface area of the wine is exposed to the air. Therefore, it’s best to pour the wine out into large wine glasses or into a decanter of some sort and let it sit a short time before drinking. Exposing more of the wine to the surrounding air will let the wine breath and come to life in many ways.
As a general rule of thumb, most wines will significantly improve by allowing them to breathe for just 15 minutes. Red wines, more than white wines, will benefit from a little aeration before serving. In particular, young, red, tannic wines like Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux will absolutely require additional aeration. These wines will improve if you let them aerate properly for about an hour. This is due to the fact that they have higher levels of tannins in them than other red wines. Tannins are the bitter tasting particles that exist in grape skins, seeds, and stems. Red wines generally have higher tannin levels in them over white wines because they are allowed to ferment with these parts of the grapes inside. Tannins give you that somewhat bitter, sharp taste in your mouth when you drink red wine. Some white wines have higher tannin levels in them than other whites because of the oak barrels they ferment in. Oak barrels have tannins in them as well, so white Burgundy and white Bordeaux wines will benefit from some breathing time, usually about 30 minutes.
Younger wines will generally require more time to aerate than older wines. Young tannic wines haven’t had time enough to mellow naturally inside the bottle, so they need the opportunity to breathe to soften that tannic bitterness. However, older wines will not require as long to breathe and can in fact begin to deteriorate in flavor if left to aerate too long. Older, more mature wines, 8-10 years, should only be aerated for a few minutes. This is because older wines have naturally mellowed their tannins and the sudden shock of the air surrounding them will tend to damage the delicate wine inside. These older wines will probably require decanting, rather than just pouring them into wine glasses, in order to remove any sediment that may have accumulated inside the bottle over the years.
Some exceptions to these aerating rules include very young, highly tannic Barolo and Barbaresco wines. These wines are packed full of tannins and require 3-4 hours of breathing time before serving. Some older Ports and younger Vintage Ports require lots of breathing time as well. Older Ports should aerate for 4-5 hours and younger Vintage Ports should aerate for 8 hours or more. In addition, man Ports will need to be decanted in order to remove the heavy sediment that will exist inside these bottles.
Overall, most wines do not require any breathing time at all and can just be enjoyed straight out of the bottle. These include red Burgundies, Beaujolais, Pinot Noirs, inexpensive red wines, and most other white wines. So, remember these few rules when it comes to letting wine breathe and you’re sure to enjoy every breathable sip.
