Ask Decanter
Each month our experts answer your burning wine questions. Email your questions to editor@decanter.com
HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?
Is it always true that red wine stays fresh longer than white wine once opened? If so, why?
Lucy Myers, London Caroline Gilby MW, Decanter contributor and DWWA Regional Chair, replies:
Oxygen is the enemy of wine once it’s opened, but predicting whether red will then last longer than white is not an exact science. White wines often depend on fruity, floral aromas and flavours for their enjoyability. Compounds such as terpenes (floral, lemon notes in Muscat and Riesling, for instance) or thiols (tropical fruit and citrus notes in Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc) oxidise very easily. So these styles of wine can lose their varietal expression, and may seem ‘flat’. Red wines are often less dependent on these fragile aromatic compounds. They also usually contain higher levels of phenolic compounds such as tannins and anthocyanins, which can scavenge free radicals, reduce oxidation, and so have a protective effect. Another complicating factor is sulphur dioxide. It’s added to almost all wines to protect against oxidation and mop up oxidative flavours. Levels are typically slightly higher in whites, and it works better at lower pH (white wines are often more acidic than reds), so in these cases whites are more protected.
WHERE FLAVOUR’S FROM Does grape flesh have flavour, or does flavour all come from the grape skins?
Steven Tang, by email Dr José Vouillamoz, ampelologist and co-author of (£150, Allen Lane), replies:
Wine Grapes
Flavour is defined as a combination of aroma and taste. As such, grape flesh does indeed have flavours, such as sugars responsible for sweetness, organic acids (mainly tartaric and malic acids) responsible for sourness, terpenoids responsible for bitterness, tannins responsible for astringency, and natural salts responsible for saltiness. But when it comes to aromas, grape flesh does not have many. Indeed, most of the aromatic compounds of a grape berry are concentrated in the skin. The flesh usually contains very small amounts of aromatic compounds, with the exception of Muscatflavoured varieties. This is no different for teinturier grapes, which have coloured flesh, contrary to most grape varieties whose flesh is colourless.
WHEN TO POP THE NV When should I open my non-vintage Champagne? Will it be cellarworthy?
Jim Warren, Edinburgh Amy Wislocki, Decanter regional editor for Champagne, replies:
You can generally enjoy NV Champagne on release. However, experts say NV Champagne can also benefit from some cellaring, even if most would not be expected to match the longevity and complexity of the best vintage Champagnes. Every bottle of Champagne has two lives, one relying on the sustaining presence of the wine’s lees prior to disgorgement, and the other in more rapid development post-disgorgement. A bottle will taste very different six months after disgorgement than it will two years after. There is no requirement for the disgorgement date to be included the on the label, so this can be hard to judge. Yet several producers do publish the information, either on labels or online. A little post-disgorgement ageing (ie, time in your cellar) can work wonders for NV Champagnes: two or three years should be no problem at all for a NV Champagne, and even five years for top-end wines. If you don’t know the disgorgement date it is trickier, as you won’t know how long the bottle has been sitting on the shelf. In those cases, it’s probably best to drink up within a year.