aerate; aeration [AIR-ayt; air-AY-shun]

from

The process by which air is deliberately introduced to wine. Aeration begins when the cork is removed from the bottle and the wine is exposed to outside air. The aeration process is accelerated when the wine is DECANTED into another vessel (a decanter) or poured into a wineglass and swirled. There’s some debate about the benefits of letting wine breathe. Advocates believe that the practice allows wines to SOFTEN (especially younger red wines with high TANNINS) and the BOUQUET to evolve and develop COMPLEXITY. Detractors say breathing dulls a wine’s flavor and diminishes its liveliness. There’s no argument that many wines simply don’t benefit from breathing—generally most white and ROSÉ wines, as well as many low- to medium-quality reds. Wines that do benefit are usually higher-quality VINTAGE red wines and some superior whites from BURGUNDY. Care should be taken with very old wines in that too much aeration may cause them to lose some of their fragile BOUQUET and flavor. In some wine circles, aerating wine is referred to as letting the wine “breathe.”