Tricks to let your wine Taste Better

Young red wines benefit substantially from some oxidation. You can always splash the wine into a decanter, but then you’re deprived of the presence of the decorative and often informative label on the bottle.By far the most effective process, as shocking as it seems, is to pour out a small glass of the wine, place your thumb over the top of the bottle, and shake it for a few seconds (John enjoys doing this in restaurants and watching as the waiter recoils in horror). Remove your thumb cautiously, since the shaking will generate a small amount of pressure in the bottle. The transfer of oxygen to the wine is enhanced by the large surface area generated by shaking, and by the turbulence in the liquid that instantly disperses the oxygen after it dissolves. Three seconds of shaking is more effective than four hours of “breathing.”


It’s not a good idea to try this with wines containing sediment, but those are usually older wines that will get all the air they need in the glass. Also, wines with carbonation such as our first, unlamented Slug Gulch Red may foam excessively and cause an embarrassing incident. If you’re not sure you believe all this, try an objective experiment. Open one bottle of a young red wine and let it sit for two hours, then open another and subject it to shaking. Compare the two immediately and over the course of a normal dinner, and see if you can’t tell the difference.