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Let Red Wine Breathe
Posted by
Amanda on 3/19/10
A red wine truly needs to breathe so that those that are about to partake of the delectable flavor will be able to receive the most flavor and aroma as possible. Giving red wine a chance to breathe allows the wine to be exposed to air so the wine molecules can mix with air molecules, which does affect both the aroma and the taste of wine.
Decanting is the method used to remove the sediment from a wine as well as allow the when to breathe. If you plan to serve a young wine or a white wine, then you do not have to worry about decanting. Older red wines are much better if you decant the wine.
The tongue has the ability to taste four types of taste any other sensations or flavors you experience is from the aroma. This is the main reason you want your wines to have a nice and pleasant aroma. If not you will be relying on your tongue to provide you with all the flavors which is impossible. If you were to plug your nose you may not enjoy the taste of wine at all, a matter of fact it may turn out to be pretty bland.
You can remove the cork and let the wine sit, but this is not going to do much at all to allow the air and wine molecules the chance to mix. The small amount of surface air that can actually touch the bottle neck will not do much even if you let the wine sit for hours uncorked. In order for the wine to mix with air molecules there must be a large surface area for the air to react with the wine.
This is the reason many wine connoisseurs use decanting. Decanters were designed in a specific way so that large amount of wine will be exposed to the air. This helps the wine and air work together. Many wine enthusiasts give decanting a more pleasant way of explanation which is the waking up of older wines that have been bottled up for years without exposure to air.
With decanting, your older red wines will truly “wake up” and you will be able to smell the aroma as well as taste the wine as it dances on your taste buds. Before pouring your aged red wines and sipping, give them a few minutes to wake up, you will be glad you did. The flavor and aroma will explode.
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