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Does hyperdecanting wine work?
Our food blogger wants to know if a bottle of inexpensive red wine improves by giving it a swirl in the blender.
Wed, Apr 18 2012 at 10:54 AM
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Nathan Myhrvold, author of “Modernist Cuisine,” has introduced most of the wine world to hyperdecanting, a method of improving the quality of a freshly opened bottle of red wine by "torturing" it in a blender. When I read about the method, I knew I had to try it.
I just pour the wine in, frappé away at the highest power setting for 30 to 60 seconds, and then allow the froth to subside (which happens quickly) before serving.
Myhrvold recommends hyperdecanting in a blind taste test the first time, but I tortured my wine with eyes wide open, simply because you really can’t do this type of experiment blindly when you’re all by yourself.
Since my local liquor store has a sad selection of wines and didn’t have either of the sustainable, nationally sold wines I had hoped to get, I ended up randomly choosing a bottle that looked appealing. I bought Primal Roots 2010 Red Blend ($8.99), a California blend of Merlot, Syrah and Zinfandel. Then I got to work with my experiment.
Right out of the bottle
Poured directly from the bottle, this wine appealed to me, but each flavor was very distinctive. I could smell and then taste vanilla, chocolate and dark berries. There was a distinct spiciness to it that came out at the end. Not bad, but I could tell that decanting would help.
Traditional decanting
I poured some of the wine into my decanter. When I poured the decanted wine into my glass, the aromas were still distinct, but the flavors had blended together a bit more. It had mellowed out just a bit.
Stick blender
Before trying the big blender, I poured some wine in a large measuring cup and whipped it up for 30 seconds with my stick blender. After 30 seconds, there was a significant change in the aroma of the wine. The individual scents were not so pronounced. When I took a sip, there was a big difference in taste. The spiciness had softened and the flavors were even more mellow than when I simply decanted the wine. The wine, which wasn’t bad to start with, had improved greatly.
Blender
My last experiment was with the blender. I poured a glass of wine into the blender and blended on high for 30 seconds. The wine was very frothy when finished, much frothier than with the stick blender. Once the froth went down, I took a sip. The results weren’t significantly different than even the stick blender results, but there was one difference. The wine from the blender seemed warmer. It wasn’t a problem; it was just a difference.
Also on MNN: 8 eco-friendly East Coast wineries
My conclusions
Hyperdecanting could more accurately be called hyperaerating. What’s actually happening is that a lot of oxygen is being added to the wine in a short period of time. Traditional decanting of wine has two purposes: the first is to change containers so that the sediment from a bottle of wine stays in the bottle and doesn’t make it into the drinker’s glass.
The second reason for decanting is to add air to a bottle of wine that hasn’t yet fully matured. Decanting an inexpensive wine can make it seem like a better bottle of wine. Decanting and then waiting an hour to drink the wine can create a noticeable improvement. But who wants to wait an hour after decanting to enjoy their first glass? Not me.
When the wine gets a quick infusion of a lot air from a stick blender or a regular blender, it seems to me as if that’s taking the place of allowing the wine to sit in the decanter for an hour after being poured. It might not seem like the classiest thing to do to a bottle of wine, but I’m not really concerned about that.
Of course, I’m not going to serve the wine out of a measuring cup or the pitcher of my blender. When I do hyperdecant a bottle of wine, I’ll pour it into my decanter before serving to make it look nicer.
I was very pleased with the results of my hyperdecanting experiment. I don’t like to spend a lot of money on wine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to drink the most pleasing wine my wallet allows. I think my blender will get even more use from here on out.
Hyperdecanting won’t improve every bottle of wine. A really good bottle of wine that has fully matured might be ruined by hyperdecanting. And some bottles are just so bad that nothing can help them. But, for that $10 bottle of red that you know improves from regular decanting, hyperdecanting might just improve it even more.
Have you experimented with hyperdecanting wine? What results have you gotten?
Also on MNN: 7 carbon-neutral wineries around the globe
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The bonding of oxygen to ethers and alcohols need TIME. simply adding air (remember this is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen) will get an initial change in wine, but it won't replace letting the wine breathe for 1+hour.
Think of it like roasting a leg of lamb. you could blast it at 250C for 60 mins and you'd get a roast that looks the part, but roast it for 6 hours at 120C and you'd have a much better result.
Before I retired, I had access to a laboratory ultrasonic cleaner.
Some of our engineers read an article form the UK using ultrasound to improve cheep wine.
We received permission to do a test. We purchased a bottle of MD 20/20 and put it in the ultrasonic cleaner for 30 min.
We did a blind taste test. The ultrasound wine was much improved over the out of the bottle MD 20/20.
not sure why you would put a Venturi in the dishwasher in the first place. it just needs a rinse under running water. love my Venturi. wish mine had come with the swanky sediment filter like the new ones do.
Also make sure to clean the rubber base of the Venturi. A bit of old wine can become rancid and get on the end of the Venturi. You don't want any of that bad stuff mixing with your good stuff!
Can't believe you haven't heard of the Venturi wine aerator, sold in wine stores, etc. everywhere. Costs around $40. So easy and makes a big difference in taste of red wine!
I have heard of it. In fact, I was given one as a gift once. Unfortunately, the plastic on it melted in my dishwasher not long after we got it.
Now that I know about the stick blender and the blender, though, there's no need for a tool that only has one function (to aerate wine) when I already have tools in the kitchen that can do the same thing.
I do recall it made a positive difference in the wine, though. It would be interesting to test the same wine against the Venturi and the blender.