How long does red wine normally need to breathe before drinking it?

Answer 1

Unfortunately there is no such thing as 'normally' and there is no consensus among various experts.

The idea is the exposure to oxygen ages wine, and a young wine can be softened by a lot of oxygen. Some swear by 'decanting' --pouring the wine into another container. That certainly gets a lot more oxygen onto the wine than just removing the cork.

I drink a lot of red wine, both young and aged, and cannot be bothered with decanting.

If you use a large wine glass and pour the wine in to about one third full the you have exposed that glassful and you have a large surface area open to air. Thats what I do.

Now I do open young wines 15 or 20 minutes before serving (when I remember), and that is for two reasons. First to get the bottle open before we eat so people can have their wine when the food appears, and second is that, if there is any 'bottle stink' that it clears. (You some times get short lived an unpleasant smell which is a result of the bottle being sealed for some time and it soon blows away).

The best thing to do is what suits you and your life style. There are few hard and fast rules where wine is concerned. Its just that too many people pontificate about it.

WIne is a great drink and consuming it is simple. Open bottle, pour into glass and drink. :) Enjoy!!

Answer 2

There's no set time. Some wines are fine straight from the bottle and others need a good amount of time.

"You don't actually need to let it breathe-that is kind of a tradition without much to back it up, at least that's what they told us at a wine tasting event at a wine restaurant. " Not quite true, or at least everything I've read and experiences points to the contrary. Air reduces the amount of tannins, the dry bitter elements in red wine, so decanting or breathing a wine will tone that taste down - letting other more palatable taste come up.

I like to decant almost every red I drink. It changes the taste on even the cheapest of red wines so that it can taste like a wine of twice the value. And on expensive wines, it gives them a chance to 'open up'.

The links below discusses decanting, but breathing in the glass can have many of the advanageous effects of decanting.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How long does red wine normally need to breathe before drinking it?

Answer 4

Generally when you open a bottle of red wine it depends on the year, if its over 10 years old about a minute of breathing will be good any older and let it hang out for about 3 minutes to restore life back to it. If its a fairly new bottle then go with what the others said its fine to drink right away.

Answer 5

It doesn't. Not unless you're serving a 10+year old bottle of wine.

Non-vintage wines don't need to, but general rule is that if you have a 15yo bottle, decant the wine, then leave it in the decanter for about 15 - 30 minutes before serving.

Answer 6

I find an hour is sufficient. Since the idea is to expose the wine to air to develop it's aromas. It is a good idea to do what is called decanting. Basically you pour the wine into a decanter or other vessel that allows the wine to assume more surface area and therefore oxidize faster. The simple act of pouring it into another container rapidly speeds up the process. Just be sure where you do this has fresh clean air.

Answer 7

You don't actually need to let it breathe-that is kind of a tradition without much to back it up, at least that's what they told us at a wine tasting event at a wine restaurant. I don't think it makes any difference one way or the other....

Answer 8

Just a few minutes should be fine. It doesn't HAVE to breathe, so you might go ahead and pour the first round and just leave the cork off of the bottle between rounds.

Answer 9

That's an interesting question!

Answer 10

This has been answered many times before