An Aerator…To use or not to use, that is the question. What do you think?

A few days ago I was at a local wine shop and noticed that a few customers purchased some expensive bottles of wine and requested the wine be poured through an aerator.

Right away I will tell you that I don’t like aerators. Rather, I don’t like the “idea” of them. Here’s my beef. Winemakers make their wine the way they want you to experience it and then someone puts their wine through a device that completely changes the structure, the nose, the balance, everything about the wine. It just feels wrong to me.

So tonight I’ve decided to experiment with an aerator.
I am drinking a French wine with my left over croissants I made for New Years Eve. I know, silly, but why not. I sampled the wine at a trade show a few years ago and instantly fell in love with it. It’s called Domaine La Borie Fouisseau and it’s from the 2006 vintage. It’s from a very small region called Languedoc which is in the south of France. It has a very unique blend: 55% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 10% Carignan, 5% Syrah but one that works well together. The wine has a beautiful concentration with dark robe. Generous and full bodied with dominate fruits in the mouth and a long lasting finish. An absolute beautiful wine that deserves something better than two day old soggy croissants that were nuked in the microwave for one minute on high.

I poured myself two separate glasses, one using an aerator and the other without. Immediately the nose was very strong. The aerated wine was very bright, fresh, smooth, with an almost creamy nose filled with blackberry. The non-aerated wine nose was dusty and a bit harsh from the alcohol, but not in an offensive way. I enjoyed the aroma and can’t wait to see it change over the next hour. And so the countdown begins…

Ten minutes past and the wine characteristics are starting to become very distinctive from each other. After 30 minutes both wines have changed…for the better but I find myself favoring the non-aerated wine. The nose was more expressive and the flavors were more complimentary with the nose. The finish is much longer and heavier than the aerated wine.

After 45 minutes it appears that the aerated wine has been over-decanted. It is lacking a nose but luckily still has the fruit and flavors I previously enjoyed. The non-aerated wine is GREAT. A big nose that expresses violets and rose peddles; it’s fantastic. The finish is much bigger and much longer. So my conclusion? Aerators in some cases can cause the wine to peak to early as indicated in my experiment. I would suggest using an aerator if you’re drinking the bottle immediately. The aerator can be helpful however in determining how it will taste decanted. If it’s a slow wine drinking night use caution so that you’re careful not to over-decant.

By Wes Kollar