Wednesday Wine Night? Just Add Oxygen
How you breathe can completely change the flavor
It’s Wednesday… a day celebrated by both casual drinkers and hardcore partiers alike as Wine Wednesday.
I’m not sure if this is because of the alliteration, or because by this point in the week, oodles of people already feel the need to crawl into a bottle.🍾
I was a member of that group myself recently as I caught up over dinner with friends who just got back from Napa. They showed me 14 identical sunset photos and claimed to detect notes of Albanian oak and unicorn tears in every magical sip of anything.
I wasn’t even the tiniest bit jealous as they regaled me with stories about their socially acceptable day drinking, their little flights served in equally tiny glasses, their charcuterie boards and Michelin-star restaurants.
Nosiree.
Everyone loves California wine country. And even though I sometimes prefer to zig when others zag, I completely get it.
I’ve got a soft spot for it myself. It's where I got engaged.
After all, nothing says "true love" like making a life-altering decision while buzzed on sparkling wine before breakfast. 💍🍷
Now, it's been a hot minute since I graced those hallowed vineyards with my presence. That engagement trip was 17 years ago (I’m still married, so the life-altering decision part turned out okay) and the last time I was there was 9 years ago.
A LOT has happened in the meantime, and the thing you probably care most about in reading this is that I've become a breathwork coach.
(Yes, I teach people how to breathe optimally. No, the irony of doing this in a city with questionable air quality and suffocating humidity isn't lost on me.)
I would absolutely love to go back to wine country with my respiratory superpowers. Because I've unlocked a few techniques to make tasting (and full-on drinking) an even more enjoyable experience this time around.
And no, it doesn't involve any miracles.
Or lawsuits.
As you may have guessed by now, it involves… your breath.
Whether you're planning to remortgage your house for a Napa/Sonoma blowout, or just looking to class up your Tuesday night boxed-wine ritual, here are some tips that'll help you take your next sip of vino to another level in terms of flavor and enjoyment.
Drink up, buttercup. Here's how to breathe your way to wine snobbery
Hold your glass by the stem and swirl the wine around quickly and evenly.
This helps to aerate it – i.e. add oxygen – which helps release more aromas and influence the flavor of the wine.
Stick your nose in your glass and take a big whiff.
Humans can only detect five basic taste qualities: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami, but our noses can detect more than a trillion scents. So smelling the wine will give you a far better sense of the wine than simply tasting it.
Don’t do this yet, but if you want to test that after you take your first sip in a moment, try pinching your nose while you swallow a second sip.
It tastes far more muted, doesn’t it? Told ya…
Wait to do this, though – we’re not quite there.
Inhale again and (here’s where the fun wine snobbery comes in) see if you can identify any of the individual scents.
Are you able to pull out any fruity or floral fragrances? Anything earthy or with a spicy quality?
If I’m trying to entertain my fellow winos, this is when I usually announce that I can smell lemon Pledge and formaldehyde with a bit of old shoe mixed in. In reality, I have yet to actually discern that particular scent combo and hope I never do.
Take a third full breath.
I know, I know. You might be getting a little impatient, but stay with me. Really take in the scent and imagine it traveling through your nose and into your lungs.
Once you’ve got all the air in, hold your breath for a few seconds before you exhale slowly through your mouth.
You might notice that the scent of the wine has evolved over these past three sniffs.
Yay, science!
And now you’ve fully primed yourself for the main event…
Finally. It’s time to taste!
Take a small sip and move it around in your mouth. Get it into the corners. Notice how the liquid feels against your teeth.
But don’t swallow it yet…
Take a few breaths in through your nose and notice how the flavor changes on your palate as the wine gets warmer. Then swallow and exhale through your mouth.
It’s kind of like meditating… but over wine. Which sounds like the ideal way to meditate, really.
Try retronasal breathing.
Take another sip, but while you swallow it, keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nose.👃
This is retronasal breathing, and it might open up some new flavors and aromas for you.
Your nose and mouth are connected by a passage that’s lined with olfactory receptors. Breathing this way helps to fully activate those receptors, helping you be more attuned to fragrances both when you’re inhaling, and exhaling.
Give it a try. I bet you’ll notice a difference…
Hopefully it’s a big enough one to remind you that next time you’re wishing you could shotgun your glass of Chardonnay, try these breathing techniques instead.
Not only will you convince everyone you're a sophisticated adult who totally knows what tannins and sulfites are, but you might also trick yourself into relaxing for five whole minutes. Imagine that!
Last Gasp
If this whole mindful drinking thing inspires you to book your own wine country adventure, feel free to send me a bottle. You know, for "research purposes." I'll breathe the hell out of it, I promise. 😉
“In victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte
While I'm not a fancy wine drinker, I think I can use these techniques on my fancy vodkas! Especially my Kettle One, which I swear has almost as much going on as a decent glass of wine with its lovely woodsy flavor and slow afterburn. But I promise (right hand raised) to try it on a good glass of wine as well! Thanks Candice!