It often improves the taste, but uncorking a bottle and letting it sit undisturbed for a while doesn’t accomplish your goal.
Have you ever wondered about this? It’s sort of like the advice of not going swimming right after you eat. It doesn’t make much sense at all, considering we often do strenuous things right after we eat—yet there’s something in the back of our mind that says, “What if it’s true?”
We’re going to apply some obvious common sense to this subject right at the start, and then we’ll get into what you really need to know about allowing wine to breathe.
You uncork a bottle of red wine and set it back down on the counter. There it sits, undisturbed, for 20 minutes or so. It’s breathing, right? Actually, it’s not.
Barely any of the wine has come into contact with air if all you did was uncork it. It’s for this reason that you also shouldn’t worry too much about recorking a bottle of wine that you don’t finish a bottle of wine. It’ll generally stay in the same drinkable condition for a couple of days after you open it—because very little of it is ever exposed to air.
There you go. That’s pretty much all you need to know about what does not happen when most people think they are allowing a bottle of wine to breathe.
Exposing wine to air for a short time allows it to oxidize. This process—known as oxidation—helps to soften the flavors and releases its aromas. Most red and white wines will improve when exposed to air for at least 30 minutes. The improvement, however, requires exposure to far more than the teaspoon or so exposed by simply uncorking the wine.
To accomplish this, you have to decant the wine. This process aerates the wine in its entirety.
You want the wine—all of it—to breathe or be exposed to air. This is the way to do it. Decanting wine serves a dual purpose. You’ll aerate the wine, and you’ll separate it from any sediment that may have formed during its production and aging.
White wines rarely produce sediment, but older reds and vintage ports continue to produce it as they age. It’s caused as color pigments and tannins bond together and drops to the bottom of the bottle. Stirred up, those sediments can insert a bitter flavor and gritty texture to the wine. They will also cloud the wine’s appearance.
Decanting a wine is a fancy way of saying you’re pouring it from the bottle into another vessel. As you pour the wine slowly but steadily from the bottle to a new vessel—say, a carafe—you’ll expose it to air and separate the sediment from the wine you’ll end up drinking.
It’s a gentle process, and you’ll likely sacrifice only about an ounce of the wine that’s filled with sediment. The magic will start to happen now that you’ve exposed the entire bottle of wine to air.
Young red wines can be high in tannins. This is especially true of Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, and Red Zinfandel varieties. Aeration exposes the tannins to oxidation, which softens their mild bitterness. White wines don’t have tannins, so decanting them isn’t really necessary.
So, the whole “uncork it and let it breathe” thing isn’t doing too much. It doesn’t accomplish what you want. Decanting, on the other hand, is definitely much more effort than uncorking a bottle and setting it back down on the counter for 20 minutes. Is there a middle ground?
You can accomplish much of the same benefits of decanting by pouring the wine into your glass and gently swirling it each time before you take another sip.
Young, tannic reds need oxygen to soften tannins Allowing them to breathe too long can overly soften their opulent nature. Still, most young, tannic reds can benefit from some aggressive swirling and 10–20 minutes in the glass.
Figure out what works for you. My typical process when not decanting- I pop the cork and pour off a small glass, enough to drop the wine level in the bottle beneath the neck and shoulder which exposes more wine surface area to air. Leave the cork out. As a general rule, I give lighter wines 30 mins, heavier wines 60 mins. Younger, heavy wines get 120 mins. High acid, leaner wines I prefer below room temp so I might leave them in the cellar or cycle them in and out of the fridge to keep them cooler while they’re getting air. Lower acid, rounder wines I’m usually fine coming up to room temp.
I had some pours at a restaurant and theirs were so much better than the bottles I ended up buying – I assume that comes down to temperature and time. Should I open up a young red like four hours before next time? I don’t want to decant. Also, should I put the cork back on?
I’ll echo the comment by Chris, that following the wine ‘in the glass’ over an hour or two can be insightful, albeit I used to find I paid more attention when tasting a wine at the start of a tasting, then returning to it at the end 1-2 hours later. Still not very scientific, as the effect of other wines changes our perception, but it is a good period of time to actually see changes.
If these were BTG pours, I typically ask them how long the bottle has been open. If it’s been a couple of hours and it’s drinking really well, I will know that I want to allow some air to my bottle. However, just opening the bottle X hours beforehand isn’t going to replicate the restaurant experience.
One other thought I don’t recall seeing mentioned, and mainly (but absolutely not exclusively) a thing with older red wines, is ‘bottle stink’. All sorts of weird and wonderful (and less than wonderful) aromas may jump out a freshly uncorked bottle. If it’s a bit too funky on opening, give it a few minutes to ‘blow off’. Conversely in really old wines, some of the most haunting aromas can be quite fleeting. Hence bringing us back to the golden rule… it depends!
Have you ever wondered about this? It’s sort of like the advice of not going swimming right after you eat. It doesn’t make much sense at all, considering we often do strenuous things right after we eat—yet there’s something in the back of our mind that says, “What if it’s true?”
It’s a gentle process, and you’ll likely sacrifice only about an ounce of the wine that’s filled with sediment. The magic will start to happen now that you’ve exposed the entire bottle of wine to air.
Exposing wine to air for a short time allows it to oxidize. This process—known as oxidation—helps to soften the flavors and releases its aromas. Most red and white wines will improve when exposed to air for at least 30 minutes. The improvement, however, requires exposure to far more than the teaspoon or so exposed by simply uncorking the wine.
Barely any of the wine has come into contact with air if all you did was uncork it. It’s for this reason that you also shouldn’t worry too much about recorking a bottle of wine that you don’t finish a bottle of wine. It’ll generally stay in the same drinkable condition for a couple of days after you open it—because very little of it is ever exposed to air.
There you go. That’s pretty much all you need to know about what does not happen when most people think they are allowing a bottle of wine to breathe.
Letting Wine Breathe: How it Works & Why it Matters
FAQ
How long should you let red wine breathe?
Does letting red wine breathe make a difference?
How long is too long to decant red wine?
How long is too long for red wine?
Do red wines need to breathe more?
In most cases, red wines tend to need to breathe more than white wines do, but there are some white wines that improve as they’re exposed to the surrounding air. There are a few guidelines you can use to help you decide whether a bit of extra time will help your wine’s flavor profile soften and mellow with a bit of extra time.
Is it good to drink a glass of red wine before bed?
It is a controversial subject as some can benefit from the compounds present in wine and sleep well, but others can feel the effects of alcohol and not get a good night’s sleep.
How long should you let a wine breathe?
5 to 10 mins. The time of letting your wine breathe can differ for every bottle. However, the color of the wine is a strong indicator of how long you should let it breathe. Most red wines contain more tannins than white wines, so letting them breathe for 20 to 30 minutes is needed. The longer duration removes as many tannins as possible.
Should you let your favorite wine breathe?
Here’s a great way to see if letting your favorite wine breathe is a good idea or not: Open a bottle of your favorite wine and pour a small amount. Swirl the wine around your glass. Take a drink. You might notice that the first drink might taste a bit harsh or dusty because of the tannins. Swirl it again, and have another taste in ten minutes.