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Does a wine aerator really work

The simple answer is yes, a wine aerator really works! It is why we invested so much time and money in developing the WineWeaver®.

As you know, not all wine tastes the same or is made in the same way. Some wine is made the traditional grapes into an old French oak barrel, preferably used for brandy before passing into the wine industry and other wines are made in vast metal vats. So the type of wine and the way it is made will have an impact on the need for aeration.

As you may imagine with the vast differences in the wine making process, some wine benefits from a great deal of aeration and when I say a great deal, I mean they may need to be left for hours after decanting. Other wines need very little air or perhaps if they are very light, none at all. Most red wines will benefit from some aeration.

The need for aeration is related to the grape, the basic raw material of the wine. You may wonder how the grape lead to the need for aeration does. Well, it is the tannin in wine which is there because of the natural wine making process.

The grape skins, seeds and stems impart the tannin into the wine and the length of time or exposure to the grape skin is one of the skills developed by wine makers. Each winemaker will decided depending on the quality of the grape on how long to leave the skins in the wine; it is a matter of individual judgement and experience by the winemaker.

Decisions based on how the grape is treated is also one of the skills that allows consumer to identify individual wines and winemakers as it is the skill and decision of the wine maker that leads to the recognisable characteristics of a vineyard or winery.

As a rough guide, it is easier to taste the change in red wine as the wine gets its colour from the exposure to the skin and therefore, it is likely to have tannin in the wine. On the other hand, if your wine is high in sugar and alcohol content it will be harder to ascertain the change in the wine pre and post aeration as the sugar is a dominating taste.

One of the very easy to assess wine in which to see if a wine aerator really does work is a cabernet sauvignon wine. Cabernet wines also have a higher tannic content and therefore there is a bigger change over a shorter period of time. It is also one of the main reasons they are good to hold and lay in a cellar before drinking.

wine aerator scienceRemember, the use of tannins in wine is positive as they are a natural antioxidant and add to the overall depth of colour in the wine. So use a wine aerator as a positive action to lift and improve the wine but remember, if you have a sweeter red wine with high alcohol content, you may not notice the difference as much.

Aerating wine is merely giving the wine the respect it needs for it to give you the best of its complex nuances or in a short form – you aerate wine to release the tastes.

Try an aerator on your next bottle of cabernet sauvignon and answer for yourself; Does a wine aerator really work?

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