Many make the mistake of simply opening a bottle of fine wine and enjoying it straight from the bottle. Others have heard that wine should breathe first and will use their Barware Deluxe Wine Opener Corkscrew to open the bottle and then allow it to sit for air to contact the wine. This is not the proper way to let wine aerate since the neck of the bottle is just too narrow to allow much contact with the air.
Not all wines need to the opportunity to breathe before they are enjoyed but for those that do the taste of properly airing them out is amazing. Red wines tend to get the most benefit from proper exposure to the air. This is best done via a wine glass or one of the fine crystal wine decanters available.
Both wine decanters and glasses will allow the wine to spread out where more of it will have access to the air in the room for aeration. The amount of time required for the best flavor will vary from as little as 15 minutes to possible a few hours. Most wines will require less time but younger wines with more tannins will require more time to reach their full potential in the decanter.