DECANTING
WINE
What is decanting?
Decanting is traditionally recognized as
the process of slowly pouring the contents
of a bottle of wine into another container
leaving any sediment behind. So, who actually
owns a decanter nowadays? Those social elite,
who live in expensive homes, drive luxury
cars and have 1,000+ bottle wine cellars?
Hardly. Today people are using decanters
because they want the best from their wine.
In the earlier days of wine production,
before so many wines were routinely fined
and filtered to a clear state (not foggy),
it was quite common for wines poured from
both barrel and bottle to contain a considerable
amount of solid material. So, to avoid bringing
such unsightly looking wine to the table,
it was customary to decant the wine into
a suitable receptacle. The need for such
a receptacle eventually led to the development
of the modern decanters we use today.
When should wine be decanted?
Most wines on the grocery store shelves
today, which are usually designed ready
to drink, have no real need for decanting
(from the traditional sense). But still,
many wines can benefit from a little time
in the decanter.
Wines that have aged in the bottle, typically
older red wines (not whites) and ports,
will generally throw some sediment by ten
years of age or more. Not only is this sediment
displeasing to the eye, it can also be unpleasant
in the mouth. Making wine taste somewhat
bitter or tart. In this case, as in the
past decanting helps to separate the sediment
from the wine, making it more pleasing to
drink.
Decanting also allows time for a wine to
breathe in order to soften harsh tannins
before drinking. This is beneficial with
older red wines (designed to be aged) when
opened prematurely, because the exposure
to air provides the same benefit as the
oxidation that occurs naturally during the
aging process. Care must be taken when doing
so however, because an older red wine may
begin to break down, and lose its fruit,
when exposed to air for an extended period
of time.
Young wines also benefit from a little decanting,
where the aim is to aerate instead of filtering
out sediment (there is rarely any sediment
in young wines). The decanter provides a
large surface area for the wine to be in
contact with the air, softening its youthful
bite and encouraging the development of
the more complex aromas that normally develop
with years in the bottle. For this reason,
even inexpensive wines plucked from the
shelves of the local supermarket can benefit
from decanting, if at first taste they reveal
a tannic, harsh, youthful structure.
So even today, in the modern age of industrial,
fined and filtered wines, decanting is not
just for show. Many wines will still benefit
from spending some time in a decanter. But,
in the end, let your personal taste dictate
how you like your wine, whether you prefer
it fresh from the bottle or after it has
had time to breathe.
Note: If you are drinking
a wine you feel needs time to breathe, most
likely a young tannic red wine, but don’t
have a decanter try letting it breathe in
the glass (rather than in the bottle). Swirl
it around in your glass several times. More
of the wine will be exposed to the air that
way.
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