Should You Let the Wine "Breathe"?

The idea behind letting a wine “breathe” is that giving the wine some exposure to air before drinking may improve it.  The fancy name for this is “aeration.”  If you’ve ever noticed that a wine seems to change in the glass as you drink it, you’ve noticed the effect of aeration.  Here’s a guide to when and how to aerate your wine.

When and why should a wine be aerated? 

Aeration is not beneficial for every wine.  Exposing tannic wines (like a young Cabernet or Syrah) to oxygen softens the tannins and allows the wine to become more aromatic.  If you are drinking a young red wine with strong tannins, consider aerating or decanting.  Older reds don’t benefit as much from aeration, and can actually be harmed by it.  This is because older wines have already experienced a slow, gradual oxidation process, as the cork allows a small amount of air to circulate in and out of the bottle as the wine ages.  White wines do not usually benefit from aeration because the objective is primarily to soften the tannins, which white wines do not normally have.     

How do I aerate my wine? 

Some aeration happens naturally when wine is poured into a glass and swirled before tasting.  To further aerate a wine, you can decant it, which just means to pour it into a decanter, which is a pitcher specifically designed for wine.  The act of pouring introduces oxygen, and most decanters have a wide base that increases the amount of the wine’s surface area which is exposed to air.  To get the full benefit of decanting, let the wine sit in the decanter for at least 15 minutes.  Some young cabernets could even benefit from being left in a decanter for 30 minutes or an hour or more.

Just opening the bottle – “letting the bottle breathe” – does little to aerate the wine.  The tiny bottle opening and the small surface area of wine that’s exposed simply don’t create enough contact with the air to have any effect. 

There are also gadgets – aerators – designed to increase air exposure while the wine is being poured into glasses.   They provide a simpler and quicker alternative to decanting.  Sometimes these fit into the bottle neck, and sometimes you have to hold the aerator while pouring the wine through it and into the glass.  I strongly prefer models which fit into the neck of the bottle, as opposed to those you have to hold with your other hand while pouring – that’s just awkward.

The video I’ve linked below provides a few more tips on aeration from America’s Test Kitchen.  I own the Nuance WineFiner aerator she demonstrates in the video, and I love it.  If you don’t own an aerator or a decanter, fear not!  They have a few highly unorthodox suggestions that just might work for you…

How to Aerate Wine in a Flash

So the next time you drink a bottle of red wine, aerate a glass or two (by decanting, by using an aerator, or by one of the methods recommended in the video) and leave the rest in the bottle.  Then taste and compare the results.  I think you’ll be impressed with the difference you taste!

Intro to French Wine at The Texas Wine School

I'll be teaching an Introduction to French Wine class on February 5 at The Texas Wine School!  Come join us and get a solid foundation in possibly the most important wine country in the world.

Class Overview and Details

Wine and Food Pairing Infographic

Wine and food pairing can be very complicated or very easy.  It can be complicated because there are lots of "rules" for what goes with what, and because the food you're trying to match may have multiple characteristics that point you in different wine directions.  (I'll talk more about the specific rules in another post.)  On the other hand, it's also easy, because if you like a pairing, do it, and don't worry what the rules say.

I've devised a chart to help with the complicated part.  (Click on it for a larger image.)  It takes the basic wine elements of alcohol, sugar, acid, and tannin, and matches them up with food characteristics:  fat, salt, acid, spice, bitterness, and sweetness.  Start with either the food or the wine, and read across or down the chart to see how well the characteristics will match up, from awful, to pretty good, to really amazing.  I've added notes in some of the boxes to explain the theory behind the rating of that pairing, or to suggest examples of great food and wine matches.  Specific wines that fit the description of that row are listed on the right.

As the chart suggests, the most versatile wine to pair with food is one with medium-to-high acidity, low-to-medium tannin, and moderate alcohol.

You may notice that most of the boxes are blue, indicating a fair-to-good match.  There are fantastic pairings and terrible pairings, but most are somewhere in between.  So don't be afraid to experiment with your wine and food pairings and drink what tastes good to you!

A Great Infographic on the Types of Wine

Wine Folly has a great infographic on the different types of wine.  It addresses 2 of the most important reasons to learn about wine:

• to describe what wine characteristics you like using terms that will be recognizable to others
• to find more new wines you'll like

Just follow the path of the flavors you like, and you get instant recommendations, including many of the more obscure wine and grape varieties.  And if you're not sure yet what flavors you like, the chart is full of good descriptors to start thinking about the next time you drink a glass.  Or you could always find a wine you like and then work backwards.  

Here's a link:

http://winefolly.com/review/different-types-of-wine/

And here's a preview:

Isn't it pretty?

America's Test Kitchen Reviews Wine Bottle Openers

I like to use a waiter's corkscrew at home, but if you're not used to the way it operates or if you don't open lots of bottles of wine, you may find it difficult to use.  Here's an excellent video equipment review from America's Test Kitchen, explaining and rating some of the many options available for getting those corks out.

(Some of the content on the ATK site is free and some requires a registration and/or subscription.  This content is currently free, but that could change in the future.)

Click here for their video demo and review.

Update:  You may also be interested in this review of an electric opener.  I have a friend who owns this model, and it is super easy to use.

Wine Glasses: What Kind, Why, and Where to Get Them

Does it matter what kind of wine glass you use?  In a word, yes.  The experience of tasting and drinking wine is all about observing the colors, aromas, and flavors of what you’re drinking.  Your wine glass is either enhancing or detracting from your wine experience!

Shape?  Tulip.  For both red and white wines, the best overall wine glass is tulip-shaped:  wider at the bottom, with the sides sloping inward toward the top.  The width at the bottom exposes more of the wine’s surface to air, releasing more aromas for us to smell.  As a general rule, aim for pouring the wine up to or slightly above the widest part of the glass.  If this doesn’t look like much, just think it means you get to have another glass!  The smaller opening at the top directs those aromas toward the nose, rather than letting them escape the glass.  Thinner glass is also preferred.

Size?  Big.  The size of the glass should be big enough to accommodate a 6 oz pour, yet also leave room to swirl without spilling.  I recommend a 16 oz glass, but you could go as low as 12 oz.  You could also go bigger, but anything larger than 16 oz becomes inconvenient to hold, clean, and store.

Stem?  Yes.  You need a stemmed glass.  A stem prevents the warmth of your hand from warming up the wine (more about service temperatures here), and also prevents any smells on your hands (soap, lotion, food) from interfering with the aromas of your wine.  Stem-less wine glasses are popular lately, but their advantages are all about convenience, not about what’s best for the wine experience.  Yes, they may be easier to hold, more difficult to knock over on a table, or easier to fit into the dishwasher, but they won’t do your wine any favors.  Besides, stems are just classier and more fun!

Color?  Clear.  When tasting (or judging) a wine, the first thing you look at is color.  Color can provide information about the type of grape, the style and age of the wine, or whether the wine might have a fault.  The visual aspect is part of the overall sensory experience of wine, so avoid colored or patterned glasses.

For sparkling?  A standard wine glass, like the one above, is fine for tasting and drinking sparkling wine, but the classic Champagne flute is the best choice.  The tall narrow shape allows the bubbles to be displayed to their best advantage, and the narrow opening at the top maintains the bubbles longer.

Where to buy them?  You can buy your wine glasses anywhere, but if you’re like me you want something functional, inexpensive, and easy to replace.  The best solution I’ve found in Houston is to shop at Ace Mart Restaurant Supply.  I buy the 16oz Libbey 7510 glasses by the case.  At roughly $5 per stem they meet all the above requirements, and I don’t mind too much if one breaks.

How Sweet is Your Riesling? (part 2)

Many people avoid Rieslings because they don’t drink sweet wine.  However, Rieslings can be completely dry, extremely sweet, and everything in between.  The trouble is that it’s often difficult to tell how sweet any given bottle will be.  I've written before about the German system that can help with this, but now there's an even easier way!

The International Riesling Foundation has come to the rescue!  It has developed a sweetness scale that winemakers can include on their labels.  This scale is designed to “make it easier for consumers to predict the taste they can expect from a particular bottle of Riesling,” help consumers find wines they’ll enjoy, and thus help producers sell more wine.  The scale is entirely voluntary, but hopefully many producers will decide to participate.  (The scale was first available for the 2008 vintage.)

Wine Infographics

Edit:  Since my collection of wine cheat sheets is growing, I've added a label for them.  See them all here.
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I've been working on a follow-up to the article I recently posted about German Riesling, but between prepping for a new class I'll be teaching next year and deciding to hand-make some of my Christmas presents, that hasn't been finished yet!  In the meantime, I thought I'd point out a few helpful wine infographics.

I love everything from De Long.  (They have good Christmas gifts too.)  Their Wine Grape Varietal Table is a great way to get familiar with the many grape varieties available, and does an excellent job of explaining each grape's flavor characteristics, acid and tannin levels, and in which wines and regions it's usually found.  (I may hang this on the wall above my desk at home.)

I've recently discovered their Metro Wine Maps of California and France.  These provide a great way to learn about the appellations of those regions, and the maps include info on the grapes as well as local landmarks.  (The main thing keeping me from hanging the varietal table over my desk at home is that I can't decide if I'd rather have the French wine map.)

De Long also offers a handy vintage chart as a free pdf download in color or black and white.  This one is small enough to fold up in your pocket and take with you to the wine shop.  It covers all the years back to 1990.

Robert Parker offers a free vintage chart as well, but it's less visually appealing.  However it does go all the way back to 1970.

Enjoy!

A Little Chemistry Explains a Lot

I’ve mentioned before that the French Wine Society has great on-demand webinars for members.  I watched one this past week on the subject of wine aromas, and it was fascinating.  The most interesting thing I learned was a very simple fact about wine chemistry which explains a lot about aging and storing wine.

Acid + Alcohol = Esters

Wine contains molecules of acid and alcohol.  I’m no chemist, but basically those molecules are moving around and bumping into each to each other inside the wine bottle.  Eventually, they’ll start hooking up (wine can have that effect) and forming new, larger molecules.  These new molecules are called esters.  (I’ve mentioned them before.)

What Older Wines Have That Younger Ones Don’t

Esters give wine its aroma.  The longer the wine sits in the bottle and ages, the more esters (and aromas) are formed, and the more complex they get.  This is why older wines are so highly prized!  (Keep in mind that not all wines are capable of aging.  Only certain wines will continue to improve for more than a few years.)

Why Vibration Matters During Storage

While the wine is aging, in order for all these esters to be formed, the wine has to be kept still.  When it’s moved around or shaken, those esters fall apart and the complex aromas can be lost.  This is why limiting vibration is important.  So if you’re storing wine for an extended period of time, you need a cooler designed for wine, and not just a refrigerator.  And try to avoid moving the bottles around if you can.

The term bottle shock (there’s even a movie about it) refers to the effect that being jostled and moved around has on the wine.  For example, if a wine is opened immediately after being shipped on an airplane, it will not show its best.  It needs a little time to rest in order for those esters which were broken apart to reform.  And if it’s really shaken up, it may never be quite as good as it was.  This is because some esters are formed after the wine is in the bottle, but others can only form during fermentation.   So if you lose those, you can’t get them back.

It’s nice to learn that older wines have great aromas or that vibration is bad for wine, but I always want to know why those things are true.  I guess I just need to start studying chemistry.

An Unusual Use for an Award-Winning Texas Wine

The 2013 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo wine awards have just been announced.  TX Wine Lover has 2 good posts on the awards won by Texas wineries, here and here.  I'm excited to find that I have 4 or 5 of the medal winners in my stash at home, and I'm looking forward to drinking them!  But there's one medal winner that I have other plans for...

I love to cook, and I'm especially interested in the history of food culture and what we eat.  I even wrote a master's thesis on food in Shakespeare's works.  A few years ago my very cool, chef sister-in-law gave me a book of Roman recipes - Cooking Apicius.  The Roman recipes call for a host of unusual ingredients, including passum, a sweet raisined wine (made from semi-dried grapes).  The Romans drank and cooked with passum, and the earliest recipe for it comes from the 2nd century BC.

It turns out that Bruno and George's "Other Than Standard" Raisin Wine from Sour Lake, TX (near Beaumont) is a great substitute for passum, and it just won a bronze medal in the raisin wine category.  I bought it last year at Spec's for about $12, but I don't see it on the Spec's website today.  I hope they haven't stopped carrying it.

As for how it tastes, the Bruno and George website compares it to a tawny port, and I would agree, although I don't believe it's fortified like a port.  It's very sweet, with aromas and flavors of raisins, dried cherries, toasted nuts, and caramel.  At 16.2% alcohol, it's strong, but not as strong as port.  I prefer it chilled, and it would be tasty with anything you'd pair a tawny port with - sipped with a not-too-sweet dessert, with dark chocolate, poured over vanilla ice cream, or enjoyed in a more European style with an appetizer of foie gras or cured meats.

If you've never had a raisin wine, give it a try!  It's a wine experience both new and very, very old.