How to Let Your Wine Breathe Sans Decanter
Wine and air have a strange relationship. A bottle of red wine produces new flavors and aromas as air interacts with it, but too much air over a prolonged time will turn the wine into vinegar, producing a bitter, caustic taste. Decanting is the process of adding the right amount of air to wine to improve the taste and bouquet. Usually decanters are used, but for those who prefer to pour from the bottle "sans decanters" (a catch-all phrase for any device that decants without a decanter), this can produce quick and effective results. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Purchase a wine aerator. There are several brands to choose from, and all have their benefits. Wine Aerator.com suggests: "look for an aerator that has a patent or is patent pending, this will ensure that the aerator has been thoroughly tested and does exactly what it says it does."
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Remove the cork from your selected wine.
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Set the aerator over the glass.
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Pour the wine into the aerator at a constant, sensible rate. A constant, sensible rate would be fast enough that the stream is never broken, but slow enough that the aerator doesn't overflow. The aerator works by utilizing Bernoulli's Equation, which states a moving fluid's speed increase will decrease liquid's pressure. This lessened pressure draws air into the wine.
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Cork leftover wine and place in the refrigerator, or use a vacuum sealer to remove the air from the bottle. Improperly sealed wine will produce a harsh taste and bad mouth-feel, but aerated wine softens tannins and removes harsh taste. A general rule for wine is to store wine air-free but when serving, let it breathe.
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References
- Photo Credit red wine poured into wine glass image by Allen Penton from Fotolia.com
