Why You Should Decant Wine

Why You Should Decant Wine

Why You Should Decant Wine

Last year Christmas came early for me when my fiance gave me my presents early. As I sat opening my many attractively wrapped packages, the one that excited and intrigued me was an attractive glass wine decanter. Even though I am an avid drinker of red wine, it has never occurred to me in all my years that I should ever use one. Usually, I would just set an open bottle of red wine on the counter for a little while before finally drinking it. However, after having used a wine decanter for the first time, I have decided that I will never go back to the old ways again!

What is a Wine Decanter?

Wine Decanter is a vessel, usually made out of glass, used to separate sediment from another vessel of liquid, for example, red wine. In this process, the sediment is left in a small amount of liquid in the original vessel and the sediment remains in the decanter. Decanting red wine, however, serves another purpose along with separation of the wine from the sediment and that is to oxygenate the wine.

Aeration or oxygenation is the process of adding oxygen to a liquid. Why do this? Well, it ís really quite simple and logical when you think about it. A wine has been sealed in a vacuumed bottle for years, therefore, oxygenating wine takes the edge off and enhances the aromas and bouquet. As we have learned in previous articles, aroma, and bouquets are very important aspects to wine and without them, at their full potential, a bottle will just not taste as well as it should.

Decanting Old Wine

Decanting an old bottle of wine is quite simple if you keep in mind two steps. First, it is important to stand the bottle of wine up for several hours to allow sediment to settle to the bottom. Why several hours? While larger sediment will settle to the bottle quite quickly, finer sediment will take much longer. In a well-lit room or using a lamp or candle, slowly begin to pour the wine into the decanter. Once you have roughly one third left in the bottle begin to look at the neck of the bottle for the sediment. Place the candle or lamp near the neck of the bottle and once you begin to see sediment in the neck of the bottle, stop pouring. The wine in your decanter should now be sediment free!

Some people say that it is not necessary to decant your everyday bottle of red wine. While this might be true, I have found that there is no harm done in decanting anyway. There might not be as much sediment in the bottle to separate or any at all, but the aeration will still do wonders for the flavor and aromas. The best way to decant a young bottle of wine is to splash it into the decanter so that as much of the wine comes in contact with oxygen as possible. Let the decanter sit for a moment to rest before serving.

So next time you think you will want some red wine with dinner, remember to begin the decanting process several hours before to ensure you achieve the best aromas from the wine to pair with your meal.