Or, "Buy low and serve high"

Decanting your wine, and getting a little oxygen to it will make your friends think you spent much more on that vino you're serving!

Breath in. Breath Out. Why does wine need to breathe? Oxygen activates and "opens" the wine's aromas and flavors, so that just about any wine will taste much better.

What's the best way to get air into your wine? If you're drinking straight from bottle to glass, swirl the wine in your glass to give it a little air-boost. Or, check out the "as you pour" aerators, such as the Vinturi wine aerator or the Soiree bottle top wine aerator.

If you have the time, the most effective method is to decant the wine. In addition to adding air, if you use a filter, you can remove any sediment that sometimes forms in older wines, particularly reds.

To decant a wine: If you don't have a filter, stand the bottle upright for a while to let the deposits settle before pouring. If you've decided on the spur of the moment to decant, that's ok -- just be very careful not to stir up the sediment while you open the bottle. Pour the wine slowly and steadily into a clear glass container, keeping the bottleneck over a flashlight or candle so you can see if sediment is sneaking out. The sediment should collect in the shoulder (the crook in the bottle). If the light reveals dark dots or streaks starting to spill through the neck, stop pouring and leave the transferred wine to breathe in peace.

If you have a filter, place the filter in a funnel, and place the funnel into your decanter. Then, pour the bottle contents into the decanter and let the wine sit.

How long to keep wine in a decanter before serving? Robust young wines might need a few hours, but older more delicate wines usually don't need any decanting, and may get too much air if left out beyond 15 to 30 minutes.

What if I want to re-store my wine? If you can't kill a bottle in one sitting, you can rinse out the original bottle (if there's sediment you want to get rid of) and pour the aired-out wine back in. Be sure to seal with a vacu-vin type of re-corker that removes the air to prevent further oxidation. Simply replacing the cork will result in your wine oxidizing and turning to vinegar.