For The Love Of Port

How does the temperature at which you decant affect the opening up of a Port ?
For example , 10 hours at 20 degrees v.s 10 hours at 25 degrees .

Not an expert, but my guess would be that the higher the temperature, the more rapidly you could expect to see the evolution in a Port (or any wine for that matter.) I assume this based upon the opposing practise of storing it in the refrigerator to ensure it stays "fresh" or slowing down it's evolvement.

Todd

I agree with Todd. Chemical reactions generally occur faster at higher temperatures. So the wine decanted at 25 degrees will be a little farther along than the wine decanted at 20 degrees. What the exact relationship is though, I don't know.

This is interesting: http://www.uwstout.edu/faculty/ondrusm/ ... ment10.pdf The maximum concentration of oxygen in water goes down as temperature goes up.

I'm not sure how this relates to the rate of any chemical reactions taking place.

Kris , I think the article relates more to the solubility of oxygen in water and less to the chemical reactions in Port . . .
But , informative nonetheless . . .

Doesn't it take the solubility of oxygen into wine to create the chemical reactions that cause tannins to soften and color to deepen ... to name just two. By creating a larger surface area in a wider bottomed decanter, the oxidation increases and from my experience it happens faster when the temperature is warmer. I am no scientist but when I have experimented by decanting bottles in the wine cellar, it always takes considerably longer and this has been without fail.

My understanding, perhaps flawed, is that the act of decanting mixes more air into the port than would reach it by standing in a decanter for a very long time. The pouring mixes air and liquid far faster than standing non-moving liquid absorbs through the surface.

Nobody would disagree with that Julian, at least I don't think they would.