I've had the experience occasionally when opening a wine of a scent or taste being present when opening and then being gone a little bit later. And I've seen it described in lots of tasting notes.

The other night I had the Domain Belle Crozes-Hermitage WS tasting note which made me think of this in particular. On opening it fit JM's tasting note almost perfectly but after sitting in the decanter for about an hour the glycerin taste had completely disappeared.

So it made me wonder when the WS tasters are making tasting notes is there any rule about how long the bottles are opened before tasting and to what extent that affects the tasting notes. I didn't see anything about that in the published info about how the tastings are done.

Thoughts?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aphilla,

Without a doubt you will probably get many comments on tastings. My comments are this:

rules....I dont pay attention to rules in tasting or purchasing or collecting.

I had a 62 Bordeaux some time back which was decanted at table. I immediately tasted it and it had certains aspects that I liked. I later tasted it further in the evening and the tastes were different, enjoyable but no more enjoyable than the first taste. So my thoughts then and continue to be that some wines have a nuance upon opening and many different notes later in the consumption cycle.

And one more note on RULES.... Guidelines yes, rules no thanks.

IMHO

The "rule" is to experience the evolution of a wine as it changes. Enjoy it and take note of anything significant to you, if you feel like taking notes. The professionals are tasting and assessing under rather regimented conditions. You have the luxury of relaxing and enjoying, actually drinking the wine. A complete experience.