Decanting outside vs inside?!

Recently was hosting a dinner party and decanted two bottles in two different decanters. Since it was basically “cellar temp” outside I set one on the porch. One hour and half later, I tasted both, the one on porch had opened at an alarming pace vs. the one I left inside! Could this be caused by airflow difference? Note I did not pick up on bottle variation when I initially opened the bottles. Not that it should matter but the wine was Chateau Duhart Milon 2005. Thoughts?

Maybe a local critter added a little something to your wine outside.

What the critter did while you weren’t looking.
[stirthepothal.gif]

Wouldn’t that lead more in the TCA direction?

Bottle variations

Interesting. Was there wind outside?

Does relative humidity matter?

Perhaps some ragweed slipped in there?

Truly, as others have said, I could certainly see if being a matter of constant air movement outside versus inside. A breeze blowing roughly perpendicular to the opening of the decanter could certainly funnel more air in to circulate in and out of the decanter where still air inside wouldn’t nearly as much. Scientific? No. Plausible? In my mind at least.

What do you mean by “an alarming pace”? It was tasting tired? I wouldn’t expect a classified growth '05 (of all vintages) to be tired at 14 years. But bottle variation certainly can be real at that stage. If it was tired, a poor cork is the most likely cause.

Another possibility is the decanters. Different shapes can make a difference, as well as any residue left in them. Also, whether the wine was poured gently or roughly into the decanter.

Alan Rath showed pretty convincingly in some threads that there is very little oxygen penetration at the surface of a wine after it’s been decanted. Just sitting there without disturbance, a wine won’t absorb much oxygen at all, even after a long period. So I can’t think that breezes would make any difference at all.

Gents no critters, yes breeze, same type decanters, bottle variation not detected on opening, the wine was not tired but very noticeably “more open” after 1 1/2 hrs.

There are so many variables in this situation, but Alan Rath (a chemist) made a compelling case that essentially no oxygen interchange takes place once the wine is sitting still in the decanter. So you need to look elsewhere for an explanation.

Just one of many other possibilities: Did one have a little more sediment in the bottle or in the decanter than the other? That can keep a wine tighter.

It doesn’t surprise me that the two bottles seemed similar on opening and then differentiated themselves later. I could imagine that happening without decanting, too. After 14 years, bottle variation, even if it’s not immediately detectable, can never be ruled out.

But wouldn’t moving air across the mouth of a decanter pull air into the space? Think about holding an empty bottle to your lower lip and blowing, making a sound (we’ve all done that, right?). Doesn’t that create some effect of pulling air into the bottle? Isn’t this / couldn’t this be the same thing because of the breeze?

John M, I will definitely try to read up on the Alan Rath angle thanks. Having said that logic compels me to think similar to Brandon’s comment. Don’t you think if i ran a fan blowing into a decanter it would have an effect?

Alan explained that oxygen passes through the surface of a liquid only very slowly. It’s not like drying something where replacing the air makes a difference. If the wine is sitting their still it’s not absorbing any significant amount of oxygen over 90 minutes.

Not if it doesn’t stir up the surface of the wine. At least not if you believe Alan, the chemist. (I just e-mailed him, encouraging him to chime in.)

Lol, been following the thread, but wasn’t sure I had much to offer. I can imagine a breeze stirring up the wine just enough to provide some minor circulation, Which might change the trajectory of the wine a little. But I would also expect (particularly for a relatively young and sturdy wine like this) the two bottles to reach the same point eventually, once poured into your glass and drunk over time. It sounds more like bottle variation (or maybe a subtly corked bottle) than a real difference due to being indoors/outdoors.

Where TF, is it ‘Cellar temp’ outside? It was over a hundo here today-

Yeah, my first thought was “Were the two decanters exposed to the same temperatures?”

If anyone’s curious about Alan’s explanation of how slowly oxygen diffuses into an undisturbed liquid, here’s the thread.