Another dumb newbie question

What does it mean when someone says a wine "opened up", or a wine "opens up"?

Does it refer to air getting to it, or how long it sits around? Of course, I imagine the taste is different after it "opens up", but what does that mean?

Jeff.

Reply to
JR
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Pretty much as you said. Often when you first open a bottle the wine is 'closed' or 'tight'. For me that means it tastes flat, no character, little complexity, fruit etc. does not come through. Let it breath for awhile and it 'opens up'.

One of the most notable experiences wine tasting was at Plumpjack winery in Napa Valley. The bartender poured us a taste from one of their best Cabs. It was very good but didn't seem to warrant the $50 price. He then poured us a taste from another bottle. All I could say was WOW, what is this? He said its the same Cab from a bottle opened the day before. Huge difference all for the better for this particular wine.

Reply to
miles

"JR" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Buy a Rioja Reserva. Open it up and sip, then come back 2 hours later and look for the changes (you may swear that someone changed the bottle on you.)

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

Definition by example: I once opened a 40-year old Bordeaux and poured some into my glass. It tasted thin and acidic with some tannins but no fruit. I then poured the wine into a decanter, aerated it and poured some into another glass. That glass had a tremendously complex nose and, when tasted, was richer, more full-bodied and had loads of fruit showing.

The wine had opened up.

HTH Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

This is falsely attributed to the wine. Actually, what happens is the tongue gets cleaned off by the alcohol in the first few draughts of wine, allowing the taste buds to taste the wine. Also, the food mixes with the wine.

JR wrote:

Reply to
uraniumcommittee

Mark,

Good example. I try to always pour a sip into the glass, before decanting, just to have a bit of A-B comparison.

JR,

Swirling the wine in the glass can accomplish some of this, especially if you will not be decanting the whole bottle. Try a sip/smell when first poured. Swirl well, albeit carefully, so you don't WEAR the wine, taste/smell again. Leave the glass of just a bit and repeat. Most wines, especially reds will " open up." As I mentioned to Mark, a little trial, regardless of decanting, breathing, etc. is good as a "control."

Hunt

Reply to
Hunt

You're gonna hear otherwise on this one! lol

Reply to
miles

dragged more bullshit from his endless, witless repertoise...

You are so predictable Michael !

6.616 billion people of the face of this earth, and you are the only one who actually believes the garbage that you write.

I truly think that you should be euthanased and stuffed for maternity.

Reply to
st.helier

eeewwwww - now there's a visual.......

Reply to
Mike P

Years ago when I was a wine buyer for a steak & seafood restaurant here in Reno, NV, I had a salesman pour me a taste of wine from a bottle he had just opened in front of me. I mentioned that I really didn't care for the wine (I was looking for a low-cost blend to use as a house wine). He produced another glass, put his thumb over the neck of the bottle and shook it vigorously. I laughed as he poured me another taste and d****** if that hadn't opened the wine up. I hadn't eaten anything and had only the one taste.

I also remember having a 1999 M. Chapoutier La Bernadine that morphed about five times before it became this illustrious blackberry/chocolate/smoke in a glass. Nothing eaten before or after unless you include the chewy texture of the wine.

I can still remember the 1996 Bruno Brolia Gavi di Gavi that used to begin lemony and tart and would slowly soften on the sides while hints of anise coated the back of my palate. It still makes my mouth water :)

Reply to
Stachman0

You bet there is an actual chemical explanation. While I can't give you the details for wine (though E&J Gallo probably could: they were subjecting wine to gas chromatographs back in the '70s), there is a handy analogy in coffee: the best, most aromatic cup of coffee you can brew will come from freshly drawn, cold water brought almost (but not) to a boil. Why is that? It's because those conditions *maximize* the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, and that dissolved oxygen reacts with the freshly brewed coffee to form the very pleasant aroma that we all associate with frshly brewed coffee. It's ironic that the chemical most responsible for that pleasant smell is a thiol, the class that gives us rotten eggs and eau de skunk. Go figger...

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

"Joseph Coulter" skrev i melding news:Xns979CC7D87FB8Byourvacationcomcastn@216.196.97.136...

Uh? :-) Anders

Reply to
Anders Tørneskog

MYTHS. MYTHS. MYTHS.

You believe 'em, I don't.

Reply to
uraniumcommittee

Methinks that might be rather painful Ouch!

greybeard :-)))

Reply to
greybeard

Here our faq:

formatting link

Reply to
Joe "Beppe"Rosenberg

Joe,

Thanks, as always, for posting the FAQ. I poured over it, yet again, but could find no reference to"stuffed for maternity." Was that part of the Bdx/Burg discussion thread that I missed?

Hunt

Reply to
Hunt
Reply to
Joe "Beppe"Rosenberg

"Hunt" wrote ...................

Anyone any idea what "malapropism" is in Italian?

Reply to
st.helier

"st.helier" skrev i meddelandet news:a2mZf.11502$ snipped-for-privacy@news.xtra.co.nz...

PMJI, Self just poor foreigner, Milord - regret do not, repeat not believe it exists in Italian as the word is very explicitly from the treasure of English litterature ("School for Scandals"). Similar to "teetotalism" which apparently does not exist in French, according to the Maitre d' at La Grande Ourse in Val d'Isere (he is most probably wrong, though), but for other reasons. We'll try wisper the magic word ("Bandol") and see if Mike responds ...

Besides, UC does not speak Italian, he pointed that out a few months back. Or have I missed the (or several) point(s)?

Cheers

Nils Gustaf

Reply to
Nils Gustaf Lindgren

No, but he writes pure shiatsu!!!

Reply to
st.helier

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