Bottle Shock - 3.29.24

Last evening I had the pleasure of dining at the Birchrunville Café for dinner. The invitation was presented by a friend and also the winner of the ‘Name that Wine Contest’, Aaron. He will be presented with his bottles of the new red blend, now called ‘Kismet’, once they are labeled. The name is appropriate to be the somewhat darker relative of Serendipity. Aaron’s submission was late but so good that it won me (and a few others) over.

Dinner was as wonderful as you’d expect it to be at the Café. Dining and wine tasting with Aaron is always fun. We seem to be able to bounce taste characteristics off of each other narrowing each wine down to the perfect tasting notes and pairings. Aaron is a vinophile, like many of us, but he has an impressive wine education, also.

This night, most of the wines were from Aaron’s collection. There were a few great Cabs, my 2020 Cab being one that I contributed. There was a wonderful blend and an equally good Syrah. I also gave Aaron a bottle of my new 2022 Cab which was just bottled a week ago and unlabeled. I told him to decant it before drinking which he may have done anyway.

The reason for decanting is that the wine is apt to be “shocky”, or have “bottle shock” up to 2 weeks after bottling. The symptoms of bottle shock can be a sulfur or chemical smell in wines that are given a hefty dose of sulfites just before bottling, or wines can also taste as if there is not much going on in the wine, perhaps a bit flat.

Whether the wine is shocky because of sulfites or just closed up a bit, this can be remedied easily by decanting the wine or aerating it. If you take any glass of wine which contains sulfites and introduce air to it by splashing it about, the oxygen hitting the wine will dissipate the sulfites. The air will also open up closed off wines bringing out more of the discrete taste characteristics you hope for in a good wine. A closed off wine is not necessarily from bottle shock, it can be from aging but still decanting for about an hour will open it up.

Paring suggestion for the 2022 Cab — Peanut Butter Easter Eggs.

Cheers,

Sharon