Which Wines need to be Aerated?

By December 27, 2018

Which-Wines-Need-to-be-Aerated-1

Aerating is the process of mingling air with wine. With the adding of oxygen, the tannin of wine is weakened and flagrance released to a higher degree. Thereby, the wine gets a nicer taste. Yet not all the wines need aerating, extra aerating will even ruin some wines. Here I will introduce which wines need to be aerated.

Wines need to be aerated

Which-Wines-Need-to-be-Aerated-2

The core of aerating is to increase the contact area of wine and oxygen, thereby the tannin of wine will be softened and bouquet will be released, making the wine tastier and mellower. So wines that are of high tannin content will benefit from aerating. Yet normal wines are lack of complex contents for further reaction thereby are not suitable for aerating–only quality wines need aerating. These wines are mostly young red wines; still some white wines are suitable. Here is a simple list.

Red wines need aerating:

 Barolo, Bordeaux, Northern Rhône Valley , many Italian and Spanish wines. 

Cabernet Sauvignons, Cabernet Francs, Nebbiolo, Petite Sirah, Tempranillo

Montepulciano, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot

White wines need aerating:

ChenninBurgundy and even Chardonnay

White Bordeaux, Alsace Whites

Apart from the above, vintage ports are also highly tannin-content and the young vintage ports are especially good for aerating. Different from decanting, aerating consumes more time and the aerated wine is directly used for storage or serving. Sediments are hard to remove during aerating for wines didn’t experience long time standing. If we can find an aerator serve for both filtering and aerating, the effect must be perfect. Here is an ideal suggestion—Ecooe Wine Aerator with Travel Pouch.

Which-Wines-Need-to-be-Aerated-3

This aerator is designed in tiny size and can be easily packed in the bag, a good choice for traveling. It has two functions, one is filtering and the other is aerating. The aerating is not time-consuming at all; you can instantly sip a cup of wine after pouring wine through the aerator.

As for aerating, another essential factor that affects the wine quality is time. Different wines require different time and for some old red wines, too much time of aerating may ruin them in silence. The best way to ensure the aerating time is to taste it. The smoother and mellower the taste, the less time it should be aerated.

Which-Wines-Need-to-be-Aerated-4

As for young red time, that is to say, less than 7 years of storage wines, need about 1-2 hours of aerating. During the aerating, you can taste by time to ensure whether it gets smooth enough. The aerating time of red wines that are 7 years older depends on your personal choice, you can decide the aerating time by tasting it by time until it reaches to your wanted degree. For white wines, 15-20 minutes of aeration is ideal. And for vintage port wine, hours of aerating is needed. And since there are lots of sediments in it, you need to keep the bottle upright for 12 hours so as to separate them from the wine.

Comments (0)

 *

 *