Wine Breathing

[Richard Simms]

Is there a rule of thumb as to how long wine should breathe before one begins to drink? Do reds have a different length of time than whites? Does the age of the wine play a role in the breathing time? I did a search on "breathe/breathing" and could not find any specific guideline.

[Innkeeper]

Breathing is a term best done away with. In practice, this means opening the bottle and letting it set for some period of time before consuming. Like us breathing means let air in. The amount of air that can get through the neck of a bottle just sitting there would be signficant if you let it set there for several days or a week, but hours are meaningless.

Emergency oxygen is best accomplished by decanting. White wines seldom if ever need it, but red wines that have not yet opened up frequently do. These wines should have been left in the rack for additional time, usually years. But, we can't always guess right. When we open a wine that we know or suspect or determine by tasting a little is still closed, it should be decanted before consuming. This exposes it to a lot of air. Even so, some wines need to be decanted several hours ahead of time.

[Richard Simms]

Thank's for your comments Innkeeper. I guess the answer is ..... it all depends. I read where some wines taste better the second day after being refrigerated overnight.

[mrdutton]

If you read Drew's post on the '98 La Veille Ferme Cote du Ventoux, then that might be one place where you read about a wine mellowing overnight in the reefer.

Drew refered to a taste of "gym socks" when he first opened the bottle. He went on to explain that the musty old socks went away after a stint in the ole ice box.