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Hello there! I'm Dr. Vinifera, or "Vinny" for short. Ask me your toughest wine questions, from the technical aspects of winemaking to the fine points of etiquette. I hope you find my answers educational and even amusing. Want to see more of them? Check out my archive. And here are my most Frequently Asked Questions.
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Years ago, I recall someone saying that because of the narrow neck of a wine bottle, opening a bottle of wine to "breathe" is not productive. I’m arguing with some wine "experts" who still want to open a bottle long before pouring it so it can breathe. Who’s right?
—Lisa
Dear Lisa,
To be clear, "breathing" refers to a just-opened bottle of wine interacting with the oxygen it is exposed to. All wine responds to this interaction—some for better, like a young red wine that will become more expressive, and some for worse, like an older wine that will fade quickly.
If you simply open a bottle of wine, the surface area of the wine that will be exposed to oxygen is smaller than the face of a quarter. Breathing? Yes, but just barely. To experience a more substantial effect, a wine would need more of its surface area exposed to oxygen. You can achieve this by pouring a glass or two--or better yet, by decanting. The act of pouring itself introduces air to a wine, and decanters will typically have more surface area than an open bottle of wine. When you pour the wine into your glass? Even more air exposure means more breathing. Swirling the wine in your glass? Even more.
—Dr. Vinny
Do you have a question for me? Fire away!
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