| VIN-SIGHTS |

BY MARNIE OLD

The fun begins when wine is opened , but preserving unfinished bottles for later enjoyment is tricky .

When a cork is pulled and wine is poured , a rush of oxygen-rich air triggers rapid changes that fundamentally alter the wine itself . Not simply our perception of it , as serving temperature or food context might .

Most wines taste noticeably flattened after sitting open more than a few hours , because key aroma compounds are lost to evaporation progressively over time . After a few days , unpleasant smells associated with oxidation and acetification appear , intensifying as the wine browns and starts down the path toward vinegar .

Many accessories on the market claim to preserve open wine , all of which attempt to block or slow the impact of oxygen . But none can make wine taste exactly as it did upon pulling the cork , because wine is a volatile product that never stands still .

Wine preservation gadgets that aim to create a vacuum inflict as much harm as they prevent ; they may slow one form of spoilage but speed up the other , as explained below . Systems using inert gases like argon are far more effective , since they work by laying a protective blanket of sorts on the wine surface — think shrink-wrap in gas form . But the effectiveness fades after a few days , unless the wine is extracted without pulling the cork , as with Coravin devices .

Marnie Old is one of the country ’ s leading wine educators . Formerly the director of wine studies for Manhattan ’ s French Culinary Institute , she is best known for her visually engaging books published by DK , such as Wine : A Tasting Course . Marnie currently serves as director of vinlightenment for Boisset Collection .

INSPECT YOUR GADGET

Vacuum pumps reduce atmospheric pressure inside the bottle , which speeds the rate of evaporation and flavor loss . You are literally sucking flavor out of your wine with every pump !

EXPOSURE TO OXYGEN + MICRO-ORGANISMS

Wine is carefully protected from air throughout its lifespan . When opened , the wine will absorb air like a sponge . Oxidation and associated chemical reactions begin quickly and do the most harm . But exposure to air also introduces microbes such as acetobacter and yeast , which can slowly turn wine into wine vinegar or spark refermentation .

AIRBORNE DANGERS

FLAVOR LOSS

EVAPORATION OF AROMA AND FLAVOR

COMPOUNDS

Most of what we call “ flavor ” is detected with the olfactory sense of smell , not by taste buds , so most of wine ’ s appeal derives from aromatic compounds , such as esters and aldehydes . These volatile components vaporize as wine is opened , poured and swirled , never to return . Their departure progressively weakens wine ’ s flavor over time , leaving it tasting diluted or hollow .

OXYGEN : FRIEND OR FOE ?

Exposure to air is not always a bad thing . The desirable effects of barrel maturation and bottle aging are both driven by wine ’ s interaction with the oxygen present in air . But these are tightly controlled winemaking processes that proceed at a snail ’ s pace , and only wines of extremely high quality are concentrated enough to benefit . This helps explain why top-of-the-line wines that are not yet mature are often more resilient once opened , and may even taste better for a day or two before succumbing to oxidative decline . In fact , this is the only 100 % reliable indicator of which wines have what it takes to benefit from continued cellaring .

12 | SUMMER 2021 • CHEERS @ HOME WWW . CHEERSONLINEATHOME . COM