| All wine needs to breathe. Or rather, it's best if | | | | that trouble and buy a wine decanter straight off, |
| you can leave it to aerate for some time. | | | | you could always use something as simple as |
| Generally that's called breathing the wine. There | | | | glass jug. Or if you don't even want to go that |
| are ways and means of breathing the wine, but | | | | far, then you could always just pour the wine into |
| the popular way of just opening up the bottle and | | | | the individual glasses breathing the wine. |
| leaving it on the table to breathe is more or less a | | | | This isn't something the experts will admit to |
| myth. Sure you can do it that way, but that | | | | doing all the time, but it gets the same results |
| doesn't mean that you will be breathing the wine | | | | albeit for one glass of wine. There's also the little |
| properly. | | | | factor of how long you should be breathing the |
| The best way of breathing the wine of course is | | | | wine to reap the maximum benefits. And I have |
| to use a wine decanter. These are glass bottles | | | | to say that it does vary although not very |
| with a rounded bottom half and a special funnel | | | | radically. |
| shaped top half. The purpose of the funnel half is | | | | I would have to say that the most radical |
| made clear when you see the cone-shaped funnel | | | | variation on aerating times would be with the |
| which comes with the decanter. You place the | | | | older wines. These can be very delicate in nature |
| funnel in the top half and pour the wine into it. | | | | and should only be aired for about 12-14 minutes |
| There are slits cut into the sides for the wine to | | | | before the oxidation process will break down the |
| run through, with the bottom part of the funnel | | | | delicate balance of the wine. |
| holding any sediment which might be found in red | | | | For younger wines you can let the wine aerate |
| wines. | | | | for longer, half an hour being the general stance |
| When the wine has been poured into the | | | | taken on that. Although, if the wine is really |
| decanter you will see that there is enough space | | | | young, then breathing the wine for longer is |
| over it for the air to seep into the wine and for it | | | | necessarry as this will improve upon the flavor of |
| to aerate. If however, you don't want to go to all | | | | the wine. |