Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1223652
14 | OHCC LIVING | APRIL 2020 | Let's say you just decided to open a special bottle of wine. Maybe some Chateauneuf- du-Pape, or some Burgundy you've been saving, or some California Cabernet from a winery owned by your favorite New York Mets pitcher (Tom Seaver owns a winery) or owned by your favorite actor from your childhood (Fess Parker, aka Davy Crockett). Should you decant it? Should you aerate it? Should you just pop the bottle open and let it sit for a while? Well, as in most things, it depends. If the wine is white, with few exceptions, it will not benefit from aerating or decanting. In general, most red wines will improve with as little of 15 to 20 minutes of air exposure. But if the wine is young with high tannin levels, such as the above mentioned Cabernet, it may do better with a longer time. Lighter bodied red wines, such as Pinot Noir, need little if any time to breathe. An aerator is best used to oxygenate a young bottle of wine. If your Cabernet is only a few years old, using an aerator will help to increase the surface area of the wine that is available for contact with the air. It should help that big, bold new wine to become a little softer on the tongue. And it just seems classy to aerate as you pour. But aerating a wine that is ten or more years old will probably not be as satisfying. Decanting can be done with either young or older bottles of wine. Decanting still exposes the wine to oxygen and allows it to breathe, but it does so more slowly than an aerator. Some decanters have a filtration capability which will help when a bottle has sediment at the bottom. Just opening the bottle and allowing it to sit for a while is a common practice, but it is actually futile as it does not allow enough surface area to make contact with the air. In the Wine Tasting Club, we don't see a lot of decanting. If a group follows the rules and uses the pourer for a one ounce serving, the wine will get the benefit of some aeration. (We're not telling if anyone doesn't do that.) The Wine Tasting Club is open to all OHCC residents. We have tastings in members' homes every month. Annual dues are $12. Wine Tasting Club