02 October 2011

How to horrify your oenophile friends

In an article at Bloomberg Business Week, Nathan Myhrvold suggests you decant your fine wines using a blender:
Wine lovers have known for centuries that decanting wine before serving it often improves its flavor. Whatever the dominant process, the traditional decanter is a rather pathetic tool to accomplish it. A few years ago, I found I could get much better results by using an ordinary kitchen blender. 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. I call it "hyperdecanting."

Although torturing an expensive wine in this way may cause sensitive oenophiles to avert their eyes, it almost invariably improves red wines—particularly younger ones, but even a 1982 Château Margaux.
I wonder whether it will improve my $7 pinot grigios...

Image via.

2 comments:

  1. Nathan Myhrvold is an asshole (can you say "patent troll"?)--and clearly doesn't know dick about wine. This would absolutely trash some nice wines: WAY too much air, mechanical interference.

    Not every douchebag that can afford a good wine knows what they're doing.

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  2. So that's one vote for, one against. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

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