To breathe or not to breathe?

The arguments for and against

By GH wine expert, Richard Ehrlich

Most wine drinkers have heard that you\'re supposed to "let wine breathe." In some cases they\'re right. In some case they\'re wrong. In other cases, they\'re both wrong and right. The whole idea of letting wine breathe is much more complicated than just yanking the cork and leaving the bottle on the table.

How does wine breathe?

It doesn\'t. "Breathing" is a shorthand term to describe the complicated changes that take place in wine once it\'s exposed to the air outside the bottle. Wine geeks use the term aeration rather than breathing, and they know that just opening a bottle is deeply inefficient. The surface area exposed is tiny - and the air can get to it only through the small opening of the bottle neck. That kind of "breathing" takes hours if not days.

What\'s the point of aeration?

There are two points. One is to bring out the wine\'s full set of aromas and flavours. The other is that certain compounds in wine, especially the tannins that give some reds their mouth-puckering quality, can taste or feel harsh when the wine has just come out of the bottle. Air softens them and makes the wine much more appealing.

Which wines need aerating?

Air is useful mostly for reds, but not for all reds. Very young and fresh wines, such as Beaujolais or lower-priced wines from Chile or Australia, don\'t need it. Better candidates include claret, many Rhône or Rhône-style wines, much Italian wine above £7 or so, and higher-priced South African, Australian and California reds. A few whites will benefit from air-treatment, especially the most complex and costly Chardonnays. A general rule: aerating is most valuable with wines of superior quality that are being drunk a bit too young. The air "speeds up ageing."

What about decanting?

Decanting is a fancy-sounding term for pouring wine into another vessel for temporary storage prior to serving. The wine is poured twice, and pouring is an efficient way of getting air in (especially if you pour through a funnel). You can use a dedicated decanter, such as the attractive but well priced John Jenkins decanters sold by Berry Bros. & Rudd, suppliers of this month\'s case from the GH Wine Club.

If you\'re looking for something more unusual, Riedel - makers of the world\'s best wine glasses - also have a really striking range. But any suitably sized glass jug will do the job. Just make sure it\'s very clean and free of off-odours. Decanting is also the standard way of eliminating sediments, but serious sediments are found in a small percentage of wines.

What equipment do I need?

There are some ingenious aeration gadgets, but they\'re really not needed. You can do a passable job just by pouring the wine into glasses, swirling it around, and leaving it for five minutes or so. That works fine for nearly all wines.

The bottom line

The next time you\'re opening a bottle of wine, pour a small glass and take a sniff and a sip. Now pour the wine (bottle and glass) into a decanter. Leave it for 30 minutes, and taste it again. Did you notice a difference? And did you like the decanted wine better? If the answer to both questions is yes, then you might want to use aeration more often. You wouldn\'t be alone: many wine professionals do the same.