Should you let Bordeaux breathe?

December 24, 2022 / 6 Comments

Enjoying a bottle of wine with friends is great. But when you say you’re opening a bottle of red wine, there’ll always be someone to ask if you should let your wine breathe or even state it.

Let’s take the example of a Bordeaux wine. Why? Because in Bordeaux, we have different kind of wines. Wines can be aged a long time but can also be drunk at a young age.

This concerns only red Bordeaux wine however. White wines, having no tannins, do not need to breathe nor to be decanted

So, let me give you some hints to enable you to give the best answer back next time you’re in this situation!

Should you let Bordeaux breathe?

But first, what does breathing mean for wine?

Breathing for a wine actually is like breathing for a HUMAN. Let’s not forget, wine is a LIVING organism and needs oxygen to thrive. The cork and some caps enable the oxygen to pass through during the bottle aging in small quantities.

However, when the time is right and you are ready to enjoy the wine, you want it to be fully alive and thus give it a correct amount of oxygen.

If we give a human the right amount of oxygen, it will prevent him from turning blue and eventually die. But how does this work for wine?

Why should you let Bordeaux breathe?

As said just above, letting the wine breathe mean exposing the wine to oxygen by allowing it to aerate it before you drink it.

This will RELEASE the wine’s aromas and SOFTEN its tannins. This exposure to oxygen will encourage volatile aromas, such as struck match or other sulphur-like odors, to evaporate. This will thus increase the fruit and oak aromas.

If you want to fully understand the why : imagine someone trapped in a suitcase. He (or she) will be all cramped up. If you suddenly open the suitcase, will this person just as suddenly get up and walk? No, he (or she) will take the time to “de-cramp”, perhaps stretch out a little and then start walking.

Now imagine Bordeaux. These wines are usually aged for several years with just enough oxygen to keep them alive. When you open the bottle, you can’t expect them to be as lively as a 20-year-old gal, now, can you?

You’ve got to let them time to STRETCH out a little before regaining full consciousness.

But, more importantly, when should you let Bordeaux breathe?

So yes, giving oxygen to a wine that has been trapped in a bottle for several years is necessary. However, be careful, you don’t give the same AMOUNT of oxygen, or even give it the same way, if it’s a young full bodied-wine or an old vintage.

Would you wake up your grandfather the same way you wake up your teenage son? No, you would go gently on your grandfather, but you may need to shake your teenage son a bit.

The same goes for wine.

There are TWO ways to “let Bordeaux breathe”. Either you OXYGENATE it or you DECANT it. The difference lies in how you do it. You’ll be gentle when pouring the wine into the decanter for an old wine whereas you’ll be less gentle with a young wine.

The former is called decanting a wine, the latter, oxygenating a wine. (although the result is the same : it means giving oxygen to the wine. But you don’t do it the same way.)

So to answer the question : when should you let Bordeaux breathe : every single time…but not in the same way and definitely not for the same time!

And most importantly : how should you let Bordeaux breathe?

First and foremost, it should be noted that there is no point in opening a bottle in advance to aerate it because the surface in contact with the air is too weak to achieve any effect.

Back to the point now.

Old people always have priority (one must respect its ancestors) so let’s start with the old wines.

They usually have a more or less large deposit and thus must be decanted. This deposit is natural. It is formed during the aging of many quality reds.

So how should you do it?

Remove the bottle from its locker (in your wine cellar) by keeping it horizontal and place it in a wine basket. Otherwise, if you don’t have a wine basket (not many DO have one), take care not to stir the deposit.
Gently remove the upper part of the capsule and clean the shoulder and neck of the bottle.
Uncork slowly.
Remove the bottle from the basket, being careful not to shake the deposit once again.
Hold the bottle in front of a light source and pour gently in a wine decanter until the deposit is visible near the neck and then, stop pouring.

Let’s get back to the “pour gently in a wine decanter”. This means let the wine run down the side of the decanter for minimal oxygenation. It’s still going to get more than when it was in the bottle, but let’s not rough things up. Remember, it’s your grandma you’re waking up, and sometimes, it’s a really really old lady…

If there is really a lot of sediment, you can double decant. This means pour into a wine decanter like we just did and then pour it back into the bottle.

What about our youngsters now?

Some young wines benefit from the aeration provided by decantation, but this can also be achieved by swirling the wine in a glass.

But for young full-bodied wines, we can aim for maximum oxygenation. This time, we are going to pour the wine fast, directly to the bottom of the decanter to create as much splash back (surface area in contact with air) as possible.

You can also use a wine aerator, there are now many gadgets that exist, that work more or less.

However, a “gadget” that works and is free is using a COPPER coin. I use euro cents (just remember to wash the coin beforehand and afterwards of course). You just pour the wine on the copper coin into a decanter or a glass directly. The copper will interact with the wine and have an aging effect on wine.

Try it a home : pour a glass “normally” then pour the same amount of wine in another glass on a copper coin. Taste the difference (and let me know in the comments!)