Letting wine "breathe"

[Telemark]

@Great Dave

One trick to try with reds- take a sip, hold it on the front of your tongue, and pull air thru it (kinda like sipping hot soup off a spoon). You can taste the wine as it changes due to aeration!

I don’t believe that is aeration. You are getting the aroma of the wine, something that greatly enhances the taste. But that doesn’t directly aerate the wine; there’s not enough time for that to happen on your palate.

[Wallenstein]

@Telemark

I don’t believe that is aeration. You are getting the aroma of the wine, something that greatly enhances the taste. But that doesn’t directly aerate the wine; there’s not enough time for that to happen on your palate.

It also spreads the wine around all yer tastebuds, giving a wider taste experience.

[Great_Dave]

Perhaps I didn’t explain thoroughly.

Take a sip, and hold it on your tongue. Hold for oh, say 20-60 seconds.

Do it again, but this time, during those 20-60 seconds, draw air through the wine (as if to imitate a [del]bong[/del]hookah).

[Telemark]

@Great Dave

Perhaps I didn’t explain thoroughly.

Take a sip, and hold it on your tongue. Hold for oh, say 20-60 seconds.

I’ve rarely seen anyone hold wine on the palate as long as 60 seconds. It’s usually done for 10-15 seconds to get the aroma and taste.

[Tamerlane]

@John Mace

Absolutely makes a difference with some reds. The best thing to do is to decant it, but what I often do is pour it into the glass from as high above the glass as I can, making sure to create a lot of bubbles. That speeds up the breathing process.

You might want to try this gizmo: http://www.vinturi.com/home.html

I’m generally a little sceptical of gimmicky devices, but a friend got one as a gift and I was surprised to find that it really did seem to make a difference.