Aeration
Some wine experts recommend that all wines are aerated right before they are consumed. In young wines, this gets rid of any excess sulfites (SO2) which are used as a preservative to keep the wine from going bad in the bottle. Sulfites have a “burnt match”, nasal irritative odor if they are excessive, but detectable levels often “blow-off” within about 5 minutes after opening.
In older wines, the oxygen from aeration seems to return some of the fruit aromas and flavors that have become dull with age. This is called letting the wine “breathe”. But keep in mind the wine may be on its last “breath” if it’s quite old.
While pouring wine with a great “splash” to aerate it, or using some of the new spiral funnels that aerate wine may improve some wines, there is not much of a downside to doing it for all wines.
