Decanting

[Jason Perlow x]

Being a recent port collector, I'm curious about the whole procedure of decanting wines. Do you use a strainer or other kind of filter, or do you kinda carefully do it by hand? When are you supposed to do this? How long are you supposed to let these kinds of wines aerate?

[SpiritBob x]

To decant or not to decant, that is the question. And rather a controversial one at that.

There are different schools of thought on decanting as a necessary step in wine service. Nevertheless, I am very confident in my reasoning after tasting many, many bottles over the years.

Basically, there are two reasons we decant:

Reason #1: To enjoy an older wine at its’ best.

Reason #2: To enjoy a young wine at its’ best.

In other words I decant almost all wine, though not Champagne or the hot summer whites discussed on the other thread. But as to why I decant each I do it for different reasons.

Let’s begin with the older wine. Nestled away in the cellar, allowed to evolve over maybe twenty or thirty years, it has matured to perfection. It should, in my opinion, be treated with kindness and gentleness and shown the respect it deserves. Wine is after all a living, breathing organism. A fact so many people tend to forget.

It is very important to decant older wines just before you are planning on serving them. Depending on the wine and its’ fragility, it will begin to deteriorate the minute it comes into contact with oxygen. Some, much more quickly than others. So timing is essential!

Stand the wine upright for a day or so before decanting, in order to have the sediment fall to the bottom. Or use a decanting cradle carefully if you don't have advance notice. Open the bottle carefully and clean the lip well. Start to pour very slowly into the decanter, while looking through the shoulder of the bottle, which can be illuminated with the flame of a candle or a flashlight. Stop pouring as soon as you see any sediment pass over the light.

The remaining wine in the bottle can be strained into a separate container, using cheesecloth or a coffee filter. It won’t taste  the same as the first run pour, though -- so never filter any more wine than is necessary. However, it is often very palatable.

There is absolutely no question in my mind that decanting, when done correctly, works! Cleaning it up allows the wine to be served at its’ peak flavor profile. Its texture is soft and velvety. The bitter, astringent flavor of sediment is gone. The color and clarity of the wine in the glass speaks for itself. The bouquet is bright and beautiful. Sleeping beauty wakes up!

The next scenario is decanting young wine. The main reason is to give a youthful vino a much needed boost of oxygen, allowing it to develop and come to life quicker. If it is too cold, it will warm up much quicker in a decanter than in the bottle. A big, white Burgundy, tight and closed in, will open up considerably after decanting. Don’t be intimidated about decanting white wine.

Thankfully today many winemakers have stopped fining and filtering their wines, due in large part to the power of Robert Parker.

Consequently, even a one or two year old California Zinfandel can throw sediment. A young, tannic Barolo will come to life after being allowed to breathe for a time in a larger vessel.

There are no hard and fast rules as to time. I open and decant right before a meal and drink at an appropriate time.

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Robert Weaver

[Andy Lynes x]

I have just attended an introduction to wine course and they said exactly as above but not so eloquently or in so much detail. What they did say was that, if you don't own a decanter, you can simply pour the wine into any old jug, in order for it to come into contact with the air clean out the bottle to get rid of sediment and return the wine to it for serving. I suppose  you wouldn't want to do that for the very best stuff, but the point was that the decanter is a purely functional thing and does not in itself affect the wine.    

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Andy Lynes

www.alynes.freeserve.co.uk

eGullet.com Community Coordinator UK

[robert brown]

Somewhere on the site there were a few postings about seeding wine glasses with wine before serving. I thought it was in the Babbo water thread. Regardless, this is a more appropriate thread for seeding and a lot more.

You may want to try this decanting ritual if you are serving Italian wine at a future dinner party and want to be considered a real pompous schmuck. I believe the following is an accurate step-by-step notation of the decanting ritual at Ristorante Gener Neuv in Asti where the owner and sommelier Piero Fassi served me a 1989 Falletto di Serralunga Barolo of Bruno Giacosa as follows:

Piero shows me the bottle. At a small breakfront, Piero opens the bottle and pours himself a small amount to taste. He tastes the wine.

He walks a few steps to a bigger breakfront and puts down his glass.

He returns to the first breakfront and decants the wine into a carafe. He and a waitress bring the carafe, bottle, four glasses and a small copper vessel to a large  serving table next to our table.

He pours a small amount of wine from the carafe into the first wine glass.

He swirls the wine and pours it into the second wine glass.

He swirls the wine in the second wine glass and pours it into the third wine glass.

He swirls the wine in the third wine glass and pours it into the fourth wine glass.

He swirls the fourth wine glass and pours what remains into the copper vessel.

He and the waitress bring over the four glasses, which she places in front of each of us. Piero pours wine into my glass. I taste the wine. He then serves the other three people at the table.

Just thought I would share this procedure, which takes place in one form or another at formal restaurants throughout Italy, since some of you were intrigued with the seeding of wine glasses with wine.

(Edited by robert brown at 5:43 pm on Dec. 20, 2001)