Letting Wine Breathe

How long should you allow red wines to breathe before drinking them?

Wines are living things that change over time. Some wines will show very poorly if poured straight from the bottle. These may actually be the best wines when allowed adequate breathing time.

White wines, most authorities agree, need little or no time to breathe; although oxygenating any wine - red or white - will bring out its potential.

Wines that benefit most aeration.

• Red wines older than 5 years
• Complex red wines, even current release, such as high end California Cabernet Sauvignon and high end New World Syrah
• Red wines made in a restrained, Old World Style, such as Rioja, Chianti, Barolo, red Burgundy and red Bordeaux

How long must these wines breathe?

Many great wines, particularly older Bordeaux and Burgundy, tighten up after bottling and may remain tight until they receive adequate aeration. Such wines are said to be closed. Recent vintages may open up in a matter of an hour or two. Older wines can take many hours, even overnight to open up.To hasten the opening process, we recommend decanting. Wines that require an hour to open up may be ready to drink almost immediately after decanting.

A Case in Point

We recently had occasion to taste a four year old Savigny-les-Beaune Premiere Cru (single vineyard red Burgundy). Poured straight from the bottle, it was overly tannic and displayed no discernable varietal aroma or flavor. It was closed. Left open in the bottle overnight, it bloomed. The next day we were almost overwhelmed with a pure Pinot Noir nose, softened tannins and delicious, complex flavors. It just needed adequate aeration - in this case, overnight.