LET IT BREATHE
By Leslie-Ann Sheppard
Most of us have, at one time or another, heard someone- possibly a dinner party host, possibly a waiter - proclaim that he or she will 'open the bottle of wine and let it breathe.' Ever wondered about that statement? Wondered exactly whether wine can breathe, and if so, what happens?

'Breathing' means that an exchange of oxygen is occurring. Oxygen sustains life for living things. Wine is not a living thing, so it doesn't need oxygen. Oxygen plays an interesting role in wine, in fact. Too much contact with oxygen, and the wine will spoil (in fact, it will 'oxidize'). Complete elimination of oxygen contact will ensure that the wine does not change or develop. So, ideally, wines will have very limited exposure to oxygen, until you are ready to drink it.

Henceforth, when the winemaker determines that his or her wine is ready to be bottled, it is sealed to keep the oxygen contact to a bare minimum. She or he does not want the wine to oxidize, which is to say, spoil.

But, is there a time when we do want the wine to 'exchange oxygen?'

The answer is a resounding "yes."

Once the winery seals the bottles of wine - with natural wood or synthetic cork, or increasingly, with a screwtop - there is the tiniest amount of air in the bottle. Since the bottle is sealed, the oxygen in the bottle cannot escape; it is inert. The wine will change in this sealed state, but very slowly.

When you're ready to drink a bottle of wine, the first step, of course, is to open the sealed bottle. Imagine - months or years of being bottled up- the wine suddenly gives up its tiny amount of inert oxygen and can take a big gulp of fresh air.

Or, can it?

If you only open up the bottle and put it aside until you're ready to drink it, not much breathing is occurring. Instead, what you should do is pour out some of the wine (preferably into your glass), therefore forcing an actual oxygen exchange. The breathing that then occurs causes the release of all of the aromas and flavors in the wine, previously locked up tightly.

Breathing is also the reason that wine drinkers swirl their glasses. Again, it's the exchange and release of

oxygen that's the goal. I

prefer glasses of wine to be filled only halfway (maximum) so that there is room in the glass to swirl. To test this difference, you can pour a small glass of wine, and before swirling it, put your nose into the glass, sniffing gently but deeply. Then sip. After a few moments, repeat this process, but this time, swirl the glass several times, then inhale the aromas. You are absolutely certain to get more out of your swirled wine. The exchange of oxygen causes all of the pent-up character to be released.

This breathing is the reason that a bottle of wine improves as it is allowed to sit, open, whether in a decanter, a glass, or its own wine bottle. Decanting wine will make the wine taste better, faster. It is amazing how much wine can change from being first opened to its eventual potential.

This is another beautiful and wonderful thing about wine. As my husband once said, '…at a party, if you put down a beer, you come back to it an hour later and it's warm, flat, and may or may not have a cigarette butt in it. When you come back to a glass of wine an hour after pouring it, it has opened up and changed in the most generous of ways." Couldn't have said it better myself.

The exception to the 'breathing is better' rule is if the bottle of wine is very old. In this situation, wine can quickly and easily 'lose its fruit' upon oxygen exposure. Fortunately, I usually don't have the problem of waiting too

long to drink a great bottle of wine. I

Leslie-Ann Sheppard is the owner of The Cellar, a seasonal wine and cheese shop on Surfside Road. The Cellar is open through New Year's.