Most white wines won't need aeration because they are typically young wines and they don't contain the tannins that require their bouquet or flavor profile to be tempered. We recommend aerating heavier, full-bodied whites from Bordeaux, Alsace, Burgundy, and some Chardonnays. In general, white wines that have heavier and richer notes that are almost red wine-like will really benefit from this. Like red wines, you can aerate most of these but only a few types will really benefit from this process. An aerator helps filter out the sediment but very old vintages can be more fragile and a decanter may be a better solution. This excess of sediment can make the very bitter and give your wine a very sharp taste. Older vintages also need aeration because of the high amount of sediment, which are the tannins that have bonded together and sunk, instead of being suspended in the wine. Since these wines lack aging time, aerating them will help release the unwanted chemicals that would normally be released during the aging process. In general, most red wines really benefit from aeration but in particular, young reds and reds that are high in tannins are significantly enhanced by aeration. Which Wines Benefit from Aeration? Should you aerate red wine? An aerator helps you get your money's worth out of your wine because you will be able to taste all the notes and complexity of the wine. It almost bumps your wine a tier up because instead of tasting the sharp ethanol and strong acidity, the complexity is suddenly revealed. It saves money.Īerating a bottle of wine won't suddenly transform it into a much more expensive bottle of wine but it will make a cheaper wine taste much better. You now get the sophisticated and elegant flavors rolling onto your palate. The evaporation of the ethanol doesn't make your wine less alcoholic but the sharpness that you often experience with a sip of strong alcohol is now not there. Since so much of a wine's flavor is tied to its aroma, aeration greatly affects both aroma and flavor.

Aerating your wine releases these strong and unpleasant aromas and reveals the beautiful wine bouquet underneath. Have you ever taken a big whiff of a freshly opened bottle? The first thing you will notice is the strong and stinging scent of ethanol, followed by a strong almost medicinal smell from the fermentation process. The oxidation and evaporation occur during the pour, which allows you to drink your wine almost immediately.īenefits of Aerating Wine It enhances the wine's aroma. This type of aerator is a funnel that attaches to the opening of a bottle of wine and as you pour the wine, the wine is passed through an aeration chamber. When it has run through the aerator, it is ready to enjoy. These aerators are like a funnel, you just pour the wine through but not too much at once because it flows through the aerator slowly. This type of aerator is placed on top of a wine glass, the wine is poured through the vessel, it runs through an aeration chamber, and into the glass.

There are different styles of aerators that will change the process slightly. Both of these means are not as effective and take more time than using an aerator. This glass vessel is designed to provide increased surface area for the wine providing a means for oxidation and evaporation. Some people like swirling it around in their glass because it increases the surface area of the wine, encouraging oxidation and evaporation. There are three primary ways to aerate wine. By accelerating the evaporation of alcohol and sulfites, you remove the more acidic and acrid flavors that aren't enjoyable. Since there is so much of both contained in a wine, you do want some of it to evaporate so you can taste the more subtle flavors in your wine.Īerating doesn't change your wine's character but it enhances the right flavors while diminishing the less favorable flavors. Ethanol is very susceptible to oxidation and is converted to acetaldehyde and acetic acid, which reduces the medicinal or vegetal notes that are most noticeable in the wine's bouquet.Įthanol and sulfites in wine are unstable compounds and are the first to evaporate. This is the same chemical reaction when fruits ripen. Aerators can look different they all essentially work the same way by sending wine through a pressurized funnel of oxygen.Įxposing wine to excessive levels of oxygen triggers the compounds within the wine to undergo a chemical reaction. While you can sit and wait for your wine to naturally aerate or aerate your wine prior to serving it, an aerator very quickly exposes the wine to the air to accelerate oxidization and evaporation. Home Brew Beer Bottles and Bottling Equipment.Ready to Drink Bag-in-a-Box Coffee Dispenser.Cold Brew & Nitro Coffee Dispenser Kegerators.Single Faucet Kegerator Beer Dispensers.

Wine aerator