The Encyclopedia of Wine for Beginners

Chapter 3 What is hangover?

Text/Zhiwei Wine Magazine

Why sober up?When should you sober up?How long should a wine be aged?How should a decanter or decanter be used?These are common questions asked by budding wine lovers.

Why do you need to sober up and change the bottle?
Generally speaking, there are two purposes for sobering up and changing bottles: first, let it come into contact with air to help it oxidize.The wines being tasted are getting younger and younger, so decanting is even more necessary.The second is to decant the old wine to remove the sediment accumulated in the wine over the years, which is more common in the aged red wine.

If you don't change the bottle, but just remove the cork, then only a small area of ​​the bottle mouth is in contact with the air. Usually we call this method "bottle wake up".The effect of decanting to help the wine oxidize and open is very slow, but it can dissipate some bad smells in the bottle that affect the tasting, such as reducing sulfur smell, cork smell and so on.

What kind of wine needs to be sobered up

Usually we decant red wines, it is less common for white wines, especially rosé wines, but some white wines aged in wooden barrels, such as Pessac-Léognan (Pessac-Léognan) in the Bordeaux Graves region Wine, and some white wines made from Chenin blanc that are often closed when opened, can also be decanted to help them reveal their full beauty.

Even some champagnes can be decanted to enhance their fruity taste - but the effect of the bubbles will also be weakened, so for a good bottle of champagne, it is recommended to enjoy it directly from the bottle.For some sweet white wines, such as the famous Sauternes in Bordeaux, it is also good to sober up a certain period of time in advance, because these wines usually contain relatively high sulfur dioxide, and a longer period of sobering can help the dissipation of sulfur dioxide and avoid sulfur sensitivity of people have migraines after drinking alcohol.

How to sober up

The purpose of sobering up is different, the method, time and type of glass bottle used are also different.To wake up the new wine, you should choose a glass bottle with a big belly and a thin neck and a flared mouth, so that the largest area can be exposed to oxygen.Do this two hours before serving (not before your guests arrive, especially if you are going to serve an aperitif).Do not stopper the decanter, instead allow it to air more fully.As for what kind of wine should be sobered up, and how long it should be sobered up, it varies from wine to wine. You can only know whether you should sober up after tasting, and there are certain requirements for experience.If after opening the bottle and pouring it into the glass for a while, the wine is still in a state of dull aroma and closed, and the tannins of the red wine are tight and closed, then it is necessary to wake up.If you are not sure about how long you should wake up, it is recommended to taste it every 20-30 minutes during the process of sobering up to determine whether the wine has awakened to a suitable state.

Sommelier lighting candles and changing bottles of decanter
how to decant old wine
Decanting an aged wine is just the opposite: to remove the sediment that has accumulated in the wine over the years, avoid exposing the already fragile wine to violent oxygen.Decanting aged wine should choose narrow glass bottle type.First of all, the wine to be drunk should be placed upright or tilted at least 24 hours in advance to allow sediment to collect at the bottom of the bottle.The later the decanting is done (before opening the bottle) and the softer the movement, the better.The reason is simple: once poured into the glass, the wine reacts with the surrounding air, changing the aroma and taste.In just ten minutes, it disappeared.This operation should be carried out under a soft light source (such as a candle) so that the suspended sediment will stop as soon as it approaches the bottle mouth.After decanting, the decanter should be carefully sealed, using a cork or a cone of folded napkins as a stopper.

In either case, if necessary (such as with an old white wine), to keep the decanter or decanter at the optimum temperature for drinking, place it in a bucket full of water and Add ice cubes regularly to lower the temperature.Make sure that the part of the glass bottle that enters the water is level with the height of the wine in the bottle.Decanting aged wine is of paramount importance in all professional competitions, including the World's Best Sommelier competition.If done according to the rules, this operation can keep the wine for tasting in the best tasting condition.The sense of ritual brought by decanting and decanting adds even more to the atmosphere of wine tasting, bringing magical charm instantly.

what is wine sediment

Now that we talk about the use of sobering up to remove the sediment accumulated in wine for many years, we must first popularize science: what is the sediment in wine?How did it come about?Is it okay to drink if there is sediment?What kind of impact will it have on the health of the drinker and the flavor of the wine?
There are various reasons for the formation of sediments. The residues of peel and fruit stems, the carryover of peels, dead yeast or pulp may form sediments in wine, but such sediments are often filtered out by the winery before bottling.The most common leftover sediment in wine bottles is tartar, which is the result of crystallization of tartaric acid in wine when exposed to lower temperatures.This kind of crystal will slowly precipitate when the temperature is low, but it will not dissolve as the temperature rises, so it is easy to retain.

For aged wines, precipitation is even more common.These deposits are mainly composed of tannins and pigments that have agglomerated due to age.

Tartaric acid crystals that condense inside the cork

Because if there are many such precipitates, it will make the wine look bad and affect sales. Generally speaking, wineries will carry out low-temperature freezing to let these acids crystallize first, and then filter them out again.However, in order to maintain the original flavor, some wineries may only do slight filtration, or even no filtration at all; in addition, some small wineries that mainly target the domestic market and do not often export, occasionally "forget" this matter.Since tartaric acid is also an important component to increase the acidity of wine and increase the refreshing feeling, white wines that focus on acidity will contain more tartaric acid than red wines and are more prone to these crystals.

(End of this chapter)