Wine opening advice needed

[Jenise]

Doing a big wine/food dinner for 90 people on Saturday. Italian theme, so with the main course we'll serve a 2013 Brunello and a 2013 Amarone. I bought extra bottles for myself to test/taste, Andouze method, starting this morning. Only problem is: I woke up with a bad head cold. Can't smell a thing, unreliable at tasting.

I'm giving the wines to a member of my staff to uncork/Andouze/transfer wines to the event on Saturday night. This person will be able to detect cork taint but is pretty strictly a new world drinker and I'm not sure they want the responsibility for deciding how many hours are enough. Personally, I'd expect to uncork them first thing in the morning and recork them at 5:00, which is load-in time at the clubhouse.

Based on those broad facts, what would be your guesses about what kind of timing's best? All day, open the night before going to bed?

[Jenise]

No responses? Thanks for all your help, guys.

[David M. Bueker]

Hadn’t seen your request until now.

Aren’t you likely to be the single geekiest person at the dinner? Will optimum airing matter to most folks?

If you could get them to the club earlier in the day, and open around lunch time that would likely be sufficient for general purposes.

Sorry I wasn't reading last night. But personally (not knowing the particular wine) I'd say I wouldn't generally go for a long decant with Brunello. - I don't usually find Sangiovese as needful of air as others. I'd probably open a couple of hours in advance - if I found super tight (which I wouldn't expect, but depends on style of producer*) I'd just decant then**. Otherwise would leave in bottle.
I don't drink enough Amarone to opine.

*Biondi-Santi or Soldera I'd open earlier
**Hopefully you are better by then and can smell!

[Robin Garr]

I join the shamefaced chorus. I didn't really have a strong preference, but I did wonder about putting Audouse (I think you typoed Andouse) in the hands of a novice taster. As I recall, this process of airing in the open bottle without decanting requires an initial decision as to whether the wine is dumb (leave cork out) or ripe and ready (put cork back in). Have I forgotten how Audouse works? Or are you just going to have her leave all the corks out? In the latter case, I think I'd go with leaving them uncorked all day but not the night before. It will give the shyer wines a start, at least, and ideally, they'll come along a bit more during service and dinner. How critical is the crowd likely to be, in any case? Most people in a party mood just want wine in the glass.

I hope your cold improves!

[Jenise]

Crowd's not critical. There will be about four other people in the room who would understand any of this. Can't decant--we're talking ten bottles of each wine, no place to decant that volumn to.

Okay, we'll open at noon, come what may.

[Jenise]

Thanks, all. I opened them at 2:00 for an 8:00 service--perfect!

Sorry I didn't see this in time to offer advice. Sangio doesn't need nearly as much time as Nebbiolo to open up; the advice you got was good.

BTW, isn't Bob a good TCA detector?

How did they like the Amarone? That would be a rather different thing for may amateur wine tasters and the ripeness and body might surprise them (although dedicated late harvest Zin aficionados might scoff at it as a wimpy wine). Which Amarone was it?

[Jenise]

Bill, no, Bob's not as instantly decisive as I am about TCA. When it's obvious and in his glass it's obvious to him, but to just sniff the necks of bottles? Not really.

They LOVED the Amarone. And this is a good one, 2013 Monte Zovo. A small producer I'm not familiar with, and an amazing buy locally for $40. I couldn't believe it when I first taste-tested it for this event. Way underpriced for the quality. I may have to buy the remaining bottles.