You and I need to breathe, and so does every member of the animal kingdom. But do we have to let our wine breathe? That’s a little more complicated.
What do you think?
Do you ever let your wine breathe? When do you do this, and how? Let’s talk about “breathing” wine in our comments today!
Breathing – exposing the wine to air for a few minutes or even a few hours before serving – is an old tradition, and it’s based on sound reasoning … some of the time.
Breathing happens when we pour wine from the bottle into a fancy decanter or basic large measuring cup; or simply pour out a glass or two some time before drinking it, or, least effectively, just pull out the cork and leave the bottle alone for a while.
Ideally, this exposure to oxygen in the air begins chemical reactions in the wine that open up its aromas and flavors so it presents as more complex, interesting, and just plain enjoyable. If you’d like to take a deeper dive into the science behind breathing, here’s a really good article by Rémy Charest in SevenFifty Daily, an online magazine that covers the business and culture of the beverage alcohol industry.
The Spruce Eats tested and reviewed seven best wine decanters in a November 2023 article and found several good ones in the $20 to $50 range.
But here’s a little secret: It isn’t really necessary to allow most wines to breathe. When we enjoy good, everyday table wines that are made for immediate enjoyment – which probably includes most red wines that retail for $25 or less and virtually all white, pink, and sparkling wines – there’s no need for breathing. Pull the stopper or unscrew the cap, pour, and enjoy.
But it’s a different story when you run into a big, ageworthy red wine like today’s featured “Viña Ardanza,” a fine Rioja Reserva Tempranillo blend from La Rioja Alta that retails in most markets for $40 or so.
Rioja Reserva is a wine made for aging, and under the Spanish regulations governing its production, it can’t be hurried. These wines require a full year’s aging in oak barrels followed by at least two more years waiting quietly in glass bottles before it can be sold, so it achieves some maturity before you can buy it.
This 2016 bottle is a relatively recent release a full eight years after its grapes were harvested. And yet, I felt a little disappointed when I poured the first glass: The strong vanilla scent of American oak dominated its aroma and flavor.
It didn’t take long, though, for the air to work its magic. Good fruit flavors started poking through during the meal. And as I stuck with it, sipping occasionally and taking notes over the next hour or two, the oak character became more complex and fell into balance with the fruit, its soft tannins began to resolve, and it evolved into the kind of complex, interesting flavors that justify its $42 local price.
In some ways, this may be the ultimate form of breathing for a wine nerd: Rather than letting it evolve quietly, our of sight and mind, in a pricey decanter, open it and spend a little time getting to know it, paying attention and learning as the wine grows up in your glass.
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