Decanting

Its becoming trendy to decant. You see it happening more and more often at restaurants. So what is decanting and why do it? Decanting is simply transferring wine from the bottle to another container and there are only a couple of reasons to do it.


Reasons to Decant
The most prevalent reason for decanting is to expose it to air (allow a wine to breath). For a young wine simply pouring the wine into the glass and swirling it is sufficient to bring out its aromatic qualities.

For an older wine this is usually not sufficient. Pouring the wine from the bottle down the inside of the decanter exposes a large percentage of the wine to air in a very brief amount of time. However, even when decanted in this manner, an old wine may need to rest in the decanter for 30 minutes to an hour (longer for very old wines) before it starts to release aromatics that create the all important aromas of the wine.

The second reason for decanting is to remove sediment or other debris from a bottle of wine. As red wine ages sediments form in the wine and fall to the bottom of the bottle. These sediments are extremely astringent and unpleasant and need to be removed before the wine can be consumed. Careful decanting can remove these sediments. Usually only old red wines benefit from decanting. However some newer red wines may be improved by decanting them. If you have a red wine that just doesn’t taste the way you think it should, try decanting it and letting it rest for an hour or so. In some cases this will dramatically improve the wine.

The Decanter

Decanting is not difficult if a little care is taken. The decanter should be large enough to hold about twice the amount of wine that you plan to put in it. This will allow the wine to come into contact with the greatest amount of air. Decanters usually have a broad base to create a large surface area for the wine, and a small neck to collect aromas that form and to facilitate pouring the wine. While necessary to the function of a decanter, this design also makes them very unwieldy when trying to pour the wine from the decanter into the glass. If you are going to purchase a decanter, look for one that is a good compromise between function and ease of use.

Plan Ahead

If your reason for decanting includes removing sediment, you need to plan ahead. The bottle to be decanted should be removed from the rack and stood upright for at least 24 hours before decanting. This is necessary to allow the sediments to settle in the very bottom of the bottle. Try not to disturb the wine too much when removing it from the rack so that the sediment is not mixed back into the wine. When you are ready to decant treat the wine very gingerly so that you don’t stir up the sediments that have now settled to the bottom of the bottle.

Transferring the Wine

Decanting should be done in a well lit area or in front of a good light source. Tradition says use a candle, but candles are messy and it really doesn’t matter what light source you use as long as it is a

good one. Now you are going to hold the decanter in one hand and the wine bottle in the other and, in front of the light source, you are going to slowly, very slowly pour the wine from the bottle into the decanter. Doing this in front of the light source enables you to see the wine pass through the neck of the bottle and into the decanter. You are watching for any sign of the sediment trying to come out with the wine.

If you decant very slowly, tipping the bottle only as much as necessary to move the wine from it into the decanter, the sediments will stay in the bottom of the bottle. You may have to sacrifice the last inch or so of wine because it will be heavily contaminated with the sediments. Don’t try to decant this last little bit or you will end up with sediment in the decanter and have undone all that you’ve done. And, by the time the sediment resettles, the wine will have been over exposed to air and will be much the worse for it. If you are unsure that you can accomplish this feat, then you can simply pour the wine through a fine filter to remove the sediments. This is very unglamorous, especially if you use a paper coffee filter, but works pretty well.

To make this juggling act even a bit more difficult, you should strive to tip the decanter toward the bottle when pouring so the wine runs down the inside of the decanter, rather than free-falling to the bottom. Pouring the wine down the inside of the decanter increases the wine’s exposure to air and shortens the amount of time it will need to rest before you can drink it. Now let the wine rest for 30 minutes to an hour and then enjoy.