Puzzling taste change

[Hank Matty]

Fetzer Gewurztraminer '98 was opened at dinner Tuesday. Two glasses were enjoyed despite a taste somewhat too strong and "hard". The remainder was left in the bottle on its side in the refrigerator. Friday, the bottle was finished at dinner. The taste was much improved: more mellow, "soft", plus a bit sweeter.

I hope someone more knowledgeable will explain the change.

[Thomas]

Despite the passive tense, I presume you tasted the wine. The answer in this case seems like oxygenation.

[Hank Matty]

All are likely to agree that one cannot drink wine without tasting it, so why the sarcasm?

To oxygenate means to treat with oxygen, to combine with oxygen, or to enrich with oxygen. I did not introduce any oxygen to the wine, so it cannot be said that I treated it nor enriched it. That leaves only combining with oxygen already in the bottle.

Is it your thesis that a half bottle of any wine will develop an improved taste if left corked for 3 days after opening?

[Thomas]

No, that is not my thesis.

First, "improved" taste is relative, and without having tasted the wine I could not make that determination.

But I do know that as soon as you open a bottle of wine you introduce oxygen; as you remove some of the wine from the bottle, you introduce more oxygen. As the wine lay a day interacting with all that oxygen, harsh flavors tend to soften, that is what aging wine is all about.

As for the sweetness, that is a particular trait of Fetzer's Gewurztraminer, generally.

As for the sarcasm, not intended as such, but when you write "was opened at dinner...two glasses were enjoyed...the remainder was left..." you do not identify by whom, so how can anyone know?.

[Hank Matty]

Thank you for this information. It is educational, useful, and well might have been in your prior post.