Which wines should we decant? I cannot tell you how many times
we get this question. The purpose of decanting is to remove sediment
in more mature wines, and/or for aeration (most often for younger
wines). As full- bodied reds age, they develop deposits of sediment
(as the tannic acids break down the solid polymers, which come
from the skins, seeds, and stems). After the bottle has been upright
for several hours,careful pouring helps to separate the sediment
from the clear wine. Younger full-bodied wines can benefit from
aeration, revealing their tightly wound aromatics. The flavors and
complexities can be coaxed out as the wine opens up. Opening a
bottle and letting it sit without the cork may not be enough, since
there is only a miniscule amount of the wine's surface in contact
with any oxygen (about the diameter of a Nickel or Quarter).
Some people may have noticed that at some of our events we
may pour wine from a bottle into a decanter and then back into
the same bottle (double decanting). This serves 3 purposes. It is a
much more rapid way to aerate the wine. It is also easier to pour
out of a bottle (rather than from a decanter) for larger groups
of people. And finally, the original bottle makes a better
presentation than an unlabeled decanter.
