Enjoying Wines

Deciding on the best way to let your wine breathe can be a difficult one.  When I open a bottle of wine, I am ready to relax with my glass of wine. I generally don’t have much patience for allowing it to breathe.Why does wine need to breathe?  By letting your wine breathe or aerate it allows for the full flavors to emerge and make the wine more palatable. While there are many wines that do not need to go through this process, it is good to know the little details that can make a big difference. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy your wine to its fullest potential.

The reason why wines needs to breathe, or age, is because of tannins. Tannins can transfer into wine during the fermentation process from seeds and skins of grapes. They are a natural preservative that diminish overtime allowing fuller flavors to emerge. White wines and some red wines have low levels of these and therefore do not need aging, or periods of breathing, before drinking. Generally all red wines can benefit from aeration, but those that are lighter and fruitier generally don’t require much aeration.

The term breathing refers to the mixing of oxygen with wine allowing the breakdown of tannins. Decanting a bottle of wine allows the wine to mix with the air, bringing out fuller flavors.

If you choose to allow your wine to breathe, you still have one more decision to make. Do you use a decanter or an aerator? When using a decanter, you should make sure that you have at least one hour to allow the wine to breathe. This is plenty of time for your wine to mix with oxygen and for its full flavors to emerge.Just pour the wine into the decanter and let it sit for a while.  The more surface area if the wine that is exposed to air,  the sooner you will be able to enjoy.

If you just opened a bottle of wine five minutes before guests arrived, or you are only wanting to drink a single glass, decantors may not be the best way to aerate your wine.  Aerators serve the same purpose of decanters, but can achieve the same effect in the time it takes you to pour a glass. Two types of aerators are available: one that is seperate from the bottle, and one that attches as a spout directly in the bottle of wine.

The Vinturi red wine aerator allows you to speed up the breathing process by mixing the perfect amount of air for the perfect amount of time to bring out the color, aroma, and flavor of your wines. All you do is pour your glass of wine through the aerator. A drip free stand elminates the need to clean up wine spots.

The second option, which is more user friendly especially for multi-tasking person, is the Wine Finer aerator . Pour a perfectly oxygen enhanced glass of wine with this easy to use aerator. All you do is open your bottle of wine, place the Wine Finer in the bottle and pour. When finished simply place the top back on the Wine Finer as you would a stopper and let sit until you are ready for your next glass.

So before you decide whether to get yourself a decanter or an aerator, consider your time constraints. Before using the decanter, make sure there is sufficient time for the wine to breath. You can play it safe but allowing your wine to breathe in an instant with a Vinturi or Wine Finer.

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