How and when to open a bottle of great aged wine?

Imagine being the wine inside a bottle, maybe a red wine. You have rested in the same position for 10, 15, 25, 50 years. Well, they finally open the door and launch you into space! The door is the stopper, the space the decanter or the glass you've been dreaming of so much. Not everyone is an expert in the field and does not know how to behave when tasting a work of art that has been waiting so long to be tasted after years and years. There are some tricks that help keep the quality of the product high, such as using the candle or the silver funnel.

If the wine is very refined, you should always use a corkscrew with a fine spiral, normally black in color. It penetrates the cap better without forcing too much. The risk is that the cap is no longer perfectly attached to the walls of the mouth. The cap is gently removed without making unnecessary and harmful pops. Finally, the cork is worn around the nose and analyzed; any oxidations, defects, strengths, fragrances, aromatic evolutions.

The flame of the candle is used when pouring the wine, allowing it to heat the initial part of the neck at the height of the mouth. Imperfections are checked and the opening of the wine is made easy.

Many times, to facilitate the transition from the reduction phase to the oxidative phase, a silver funnel is used through which the wine can pass. In this way, at the end in the glass, the expressive power of the wine will be more easily and quickly perceptible.

Gently pour the wine by running it over the walls of the decanter or glass.

Do this before any dinner or event.

Everything else will be done by your heart and your emotions!

We invite you to age the bottles of Amarone that we recommend below. When you decide to open them you will know how to behave.

Fabio De Vecchi