Buzz
by Aliya Whiteley
After a long day, nothing quite compares to simple pleasures like watching a great movie, indulging in a massive chocolate bar, or savoring a generous glass of red wine.
At this point in the evening, the last thing anyone wants to hear is that they should uncork the bottle and let it sit for at least 30 minutes before it becomes truly enjoyable. Yet that's the (often unwritten) guideline we follow.
But why is that? Let's begin by looking into the various historical reasons.
Red wine dates back to the Stone Age. In fact, in 2011, a cave was discovered in Armenia where the remains of a wine press, fermentation vessels, drinking cups, and dried grape vines were found. These artifacts were dated to be over 5500 years old. Early winemaking often had a ceremonial role: Wine jars were uncovered in Ancient Egyptian tombs, and wine is mentioned in both the Hebrew and Christian bibles.
The practice of letting wine "breathe" is relatively modern in historical terms and likely traces back to the ways wine was once bottled and stored.
Traditionally, sulfur is added to wine to extend its shelf life. However, if too much sulfur is used, the wine may give off a rather... unique scent upon opening—the kind of "unique scent" that closely resembles rotten eggs. Exposure to air likely helped eliminate that odor, so decanting wine might have been a method for both removing undesirable smells and clearing sediment that settled at the bottom of bottles.
Another possibility is that this practice emerged in the early 1860s when Emperor Napoleon III asked Louis Pasteur to investigate why so much French wine was spoiling during transit. Pasteur's findings showed that exposure to air promoted the growth of bacteria, ruining the wine. However, small amounts of air helped improve the flavor by "aging" the wine. In corked bottles, the wine still came into contact with a bit of oxygen, and storing it for years was believed to deepen its flavor.
But does any of this still matter today?
Many experts agree that there's no benefit to simply uncorking the bottle and letting the wine sit exposed to air; it won't interact with enough oxygen to alter the flavor.
That being said, decanting wine might still serve a purpose. The truth is, it all depends on the type of wine.
Today, we don't really age wine; we make it to be consumed fairly quickly, usually within a year or so. However, certain wines that are high in tannins (compounds from grape skins and seeds) can benefit from spending time in a decanter to mellow out the sharp taste. Examples include wines from Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley.
If you're curious about whether a wine would improve from breathing, you can conduct your own little experiment at home. Buy two bottles, decant one, and let it sit for an hour. Can you taste a difference? Even if you can't, it's still an experiment that justifies opening two bottles of wine.
A word of caution: No matter where a wine is from, it’s possible to expose it to too much oxygen. Keep Pasteur’s findings in mind and avoid letting your wine sit out of the bottle for days. That would be an incredibly wasted opportunity.
