Is it really worth swirling wine in a glass?

How many times have we strut around making a wine swirl in a beautiful glass tulip? Don't say no! I remember a friend having a happy conversation at a bar counter in the company of a pretty girl. To make an impression, he ordered an excellent review. He handed it like a real gentleman to the young lady and then, driven by the urge to show his familiarity with wine, he let himself go at such a stroke as to make the wine swirl excessively, causing a splash to come out that hit the defenseless innocent blonde and her very white blouse: a manual stroke that bent the onlookers laughing and sent the girl into a rage. Alas my friend played girl and night!

But does all this twirling make sense? Yes, he would have it. The meaning is to oxygenate a wine. Bringing it from the reducing state to the oxidizing state would be said in technical terms. In practice, especially with wines of a certain structural thickness, the mixing of oxygen with the mass is facilitated, to promote a better expression of perfumes and aromas.

Normally, however, remember that to taste it would be like this:
As soon as the wine is poured into the glass, it approaches the nose without moving it: in this way, all the more volatile and normally delicate, floral and fruity primary or secondary scents are perceived.
After appreciating its standing qualities, you can gently swirl it along the walls. You do it two or three times then you approach your nose and you begin to perceive the less volatile scents that need a “little help” to get out of the glass: still the fruit, the spice, the aromatic herb, the roast, the honey, etc.
Then if you stop it is better otherwise you make it vanish... as they say in vulgar terms.

Sparkling wines and sparkling wines
NEVER!!! Sometimes it's funny to see someone spinning the glass of a Prosecco or a Franciacorta or, even worse, a Champagne. If the CO2 goes away we'll drink a still wine... what a story!

Young white wines

Better not... or only once if you feel them a bit closed in the case of extreme reductive fermentations. Rather, wait a moment while standing still.

Structured and refined white wines
Use the technique described above. Then, only if you can't do without it, but know that, with each rotation, you lose the value of the wine.

Young red wines
The less you do it, the better! We make them lose all their freshness and we immediately impoverish them on the sense of smell.

Structured and refined red wines
It can be done as we suggested before. But don't overdo it... stop at some point. Excessive oxygenation causes a loss of character and quality.

Sweet wines
Try them if you can do it... they have such a high glyceric consistency that sometimes you have to be an acrobat to succeed!

Final tip!
Rather, let me give you some advice to avoid overrotating. Take the foot of the cup with one hand and place the bottom of the glass in the palm of your other hand. While holding it in place, rotate it gently and slowly. For the abrasive effect, you will pass some heat to the wine and gently oxygenate it. By doing this then, when you place the glass on your nose, you can better perceive the roundness of the aromatic components. Ah, better with structured and refined red wines!

Bernardo Pasquale