4hw.com.cn: for wine lovers, many people will sober up before opening wine. What is sobering up? Sobering up, as the name suggests, is to wake up the wine and let its charm show more incisively and vividly; in short, it is the process of pouring the liquor from the bottle into another container (usually sobering up device), so as to separate the liquor from the sediment and let the liquor contact oxygen. This process seems simple, but in fact, it is very learned. Today, I'm going to talk with you about the things you must know about sobering up.
Why sober up?
As mentioned at the beginning, sobering up serves two purposes:
1. Separation of liquor and sediment
With aging or due to the production process without filtration, many wines will have precipitation. These precipitates, which are composed of yeast 'corpse', protein, peel and stem debris, and other substances produced in the process of wine making, not only make wine turbid, but sometimes even make wine taste bitter and astringent. Therefore, the separation of liquor and sediment by sobering up is not only to make liquor more clear, but also to protect the taste of wine.
2. Let the liquor fully contact with oxygen
Due to the use of sulfide in the brewing process, some wines will have unpleasant reducing odor such as rotten egg odor, which can be quickly dissipated by sobering up. In addition, the aroma and flavor of many wines will be blocked at the beginning of bottle opening. Full contact with oxygen can help them further open their own aroma and flavor. At the same time, it can also soften the astringent tannin and sharp acid through oxidation, making the whole wine perform better.
What kind of wine needs to sober up?
In fact, the industry has not formed a unified answer to this question. However, generally speaking, wines with high acidity, strong tannins and heavy body may need to sober up whether they are young or old. This requires us to analyze them from two aspects
1. Look at grape varieties
Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Nebbiolo and Sangiovese are high in acid and tannin. The wine brewed with these grape varieties may feel sour and astringent and difficult to taste if it is drunk just after opening the bottle. Therefore, it is necessary to further soften the tannin and acidity through sobering up, so as to improve the taste of the wine.
2. Look at the development stage
Wine, like people, has a young, mature and aging life cycle. If a wine is still in the young stage or in the prime of life, it is likely to need to sober up to present a better state: as mentioned above, young wine with high acid and high tannin needs to sober up to make the taste more mellow and smooth, and further open up its flavor. The wine that is still in its prime after aging may have precipitated during the aging process, or it may have been 'sleeping' for a long time, and the aroma is blocked when the bottle is just opened, so it needs to be sobered up to separate the precipitate and 'wake up' its richer aroma and flavor. However, if a wine has been aged for a long time and is in a declining period, it is not suitable to sober up, because exposing the liquor to the air more thoroughly will make the remaining aroma dissipate faster.