Wine Swirling-Snobs or Necessary?

Should you swirl your wine or is that something only wine snobs do?

Here's a little info about swirling, from the wine master herself, Karen MacNeil.

Dear Karen: Should all wines be swirled before you drink them?

Dear Reader: The short answer is yes. Red, white, and rosé wines should all be swirled. And not just before you drink them, but also a few times while you’re enjoying them. One varietal—syrah—especially benefits from a lot of swirling. Winemakers point out, for example, that syrahs need oxygen to taste right. In fact, a glass of syrah that isn’t swirled vigorously will often smell skunky for a few minutes, until you do swirl it. Perhaps the only wines that should not be swirled vigorously are red Burgundies or pinot noirs that are quite old—say, 25 years or more. Pinot noir is a notoriously fragile grape, and aggressively swirling an old pinot could actually cause it to “collapse” and taste like virtually nothing.


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