(SEA) More Shopping Help Needed

[Foodie-Girl]

OK...so after my cooking class at Cascadia tomorrow (Have I mentioned that class on turkey I took last week was FANTASTIC !!) I'll walk through Pike Market to pick up the quail eggs for the Salad Frisee' recipe.

I'd like to buy an inexpensive wine decanter as I'm learning that it pays to de-cant all wines...not just the extremely expensive ones (the ones I don't have).

So....any ideas for a store I'd pass walking from Cascad to the ferry?

THANKS

[reesek]

OK...so after my cooking class at Cascadia tomorrow (Have I mentioned that class on turkey I took last week was FANTASTIC !!) I'll walk through Pike Market to pick up the quail eggs for the Salad Frisee' recipe.

I'd like to buy an inexpensive wine decanter as I'm learning that it pays to de-cant all wines...not just the extremely expensive ones (the ones I don't have).

So....any ideas for a store I'd pass walking from Cascad to the ferry?

THANKS

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the wine shop at pike and western should have one.

[Foodie-Girl]

OK...so after my cooking class at Cascadia tomorrow (Have I mentioned that class on turkey I took last week was FANTASTIC !!) I'll walk through Pike Market to pick up the quail eggs for the Salad Frisee' recipe.

I'd like to buy an inexpensive wine decanter as I'm learning that it pays to de-cant all wines...not just the extremely expensive ones (the ones I don't have).

So....any ideas for a store I'd pass walking from Cascadia to the ferry?

THANKS

←

the wine shop at pike and western should have one.

←

***Perfect..THANKS SO MUCH !

Edited November 19, 2004 by Foodie-Girl (log)

[sequim]

OK...so after my cooking class at Cascadia tomorrow (Have I mentioned that class on turkey I took last week was FANTASTIC !!) I'll walk through Pike Market to pick up the quail eggs for the Salad Frisee' recipe.

I'd like to buy an inexpensive wine decanter as I'm learning that it pays to de-cant all wines...not just the extremely expensive ones (the ones I don't have).

So....any ideas for a store I'd pass walking from Cascadia to the ferry?

THANKS

Hey Foodie-Girl, Are you going to post about your class??? It would be nice to hear about it unless I missed it already...

Also, amazon.com is a great place to find wine decanters if you can wait a few days. I was browsing some just the other day.

[Foodie-Girl]

Yey Foodie-Girl, Are you going to post about your class??? It would be nice to hear about it unless I missed it already...

***Hi sequim!

I wasn't going to do a formal posting of the class but maybe next week...as I'm taking another tomorrow...I'll just combine the two.

But, briefly, I LOVED the class.....It's demonstration-style..starting with a discussion of wines and other libations to pair with the meal.

Plenty to drink and then snack on while chef and his staff do the cooking and then a 3-course sit-down lunch to follow.

I learned a lot and had a great time....plan on taking more classes when they are available.

I need the decanter for tomorrow night...so I'll pick it up when I'm in Seattle...Thanks, though, for the Amazon suggestion,sequim!

[MsRamsey]

City Kitchens (near the corner of 4th & Pine) has decanters. That's "on the way."

[Foodie-Girl]

Thanks Ms Ramsey

[Really Nice!]

I'd like to buy an inexpensive wine decanter as I'm learning that it pays to de-cant all wines...not just the extremely expensive ones (the ones I don't have).

THANKS

←

There are two purposes for decanting wines; each purpose has a different style decanter.

To keep the sediment out of your wine glass, get a tall, narrow decanter. This allows the sediment to fall to the bottom. You want one that's about the height and width of a half gallon milk carton.

To let a wine breathe, get a decanter with a fat bottom (height is irrelevant). This gives the wine the most amount of surface area to soften the tannins and let the fruit come through.

As for price, they both start around $30.

With the holidays coming up you should be dropping hints, not shopping!

[Foodie-Girl]

Really Nice !...Well, you're answer to my query has given me more questions...

Consider that I usually drink white wine...so I'm a newbie with what to do with reds.

Assuming most of the reds I buy are in the $20 - $50 price range, how often is sediment a concern?

Optimally, how long should I let a red wine breathe?

Thanks !

[Really Nice!]

Really Nice !...Well, you're answer to my query has given me more questions...

Consider that I usually drink white wine...so I'm a newbie with what to do with reds.

Assuming most of the reds I buy are in the $20 - $50 price range, how often is sediment a concern?

Optimally, how long should I let a red wine breathe?

Thanks !

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Sediment has little to do with a price range and more to do with the philosophy of the wine maker. The great wines, such as Lafite Rothschild or Penfolds Grange, have sediment but so do some lessor valued wines.

If the label says something to the effect of "unfiltered" then it will have sediment. If a wine is left to age a few years, some sediment might occur; such as Penfolds Bin 389 ($18 at Costco).

As to how long you should let a wine breathe, that is the $64,000 question. Each wine is different, and even the same wines from the same vintage will be different. Older wines don't need to breathe as long because their tannins have already softened. To my knowledge there is no 'decanting chart' like the vintage chart to guide us.

Not to throw you off your quest, but if the wine is the center of the evening I don't decant. I'll let the wine evolve for a couple hours as we slowly go through the courses, and when it gets down to the bottom of the bottle I pull out a coffee filter and run the last couple of ounces go through that.

[Foodie-Girl]

Really Nice ! Well, goes to show how much I don't know about wine...Drinking white most of the time is such a no-brainer..LOL

I didn't have time to buy the decanter on Sat. so I'm taking all of your suggestions to heart. We did have a red with dinner....a very nice Chateauneuf du Pope and I did open the bottle early-on a poured about a third of a glass for everyone before we began the meal....just to let it sit and do it's thing

Going at a leisurely pace I think the wine was just fine.

Again....thanks for all the info....much appreciated !

[little ms foodie]

Chateauneuf du Pape is one of my favorite wines!!

You know we hardly ever use our decanters except when serving magnums or something that has a lot of sediment.

I've also been told that we should actually be decanting our young wines and leaving the old ones in the bottle as Really Nice! said.

[sequim]

A decanter is nice but you can just pop the cork early and let the red wines breathe on the table while you're doing first courses with champagne or whites...that helps for these tight, young wines. Tasting also helps you to know when the wine is ready as some can take awhile. There's the odd wine that might not be smooth until hours later as you wait and wait for it to open . In that case, pouring it in and out of a decanter a couple of times can help.

When I'm pouring near the end of the bottle, I just watch to see whether there might be sendiment coming along and can usually stop before that. I've learned not to just plop the last of the wine into the glass.

[Foodie-Girl]

lmf and sequim.....you two know your stuff!

Hey, it's after 4PM...time for a glass of wine!!

[SparrowsFall]

>>To keep the sediment out of your wine glass, get a tall, narrow decanter. This allows the

>>sediment to fall to the bottom. You want one that's about the height and width of a half gallon >>milk carton.

I heard this recently from a teacher, and raised my eyebrows pretty high that time as well. I gotta disagree.

The (this) whole purpose of decanting is to leave the dregs in the bottle. When I explained this to the teacher (who shall remain nameless, but graduated from a notable culinary school) who gave the above advice, he replied, "gee, that's not the way we do it in restaurant service."

I am sad to say that he is all too often correct. I don't like to think about the number of times that I've brought a nice old bottle to drink on corkage, given it to a waiter or even sommelier, and had them cheefully dump the whole bloody thing glug glug into the decanter. This is the worst of all possible approaches, because it mixes all the dregs up with the wine irremediably. And yes, it has a very significant negative impact on the enjoyment of the bottle. (Write for details.)

The method that works: put the bottle upright for at least an hour or three (24 is better), then pour off carefully into the decanter. If you look through just below the neck with a white piece of paper behind, you can see the dregs as they get close. (Some use a candle, but I think that's affected. <g>) (This is perhaps why Bordeaux bottles have a shoulder--to hold the dregs back--and Rhones don't, as they tend to be drunk young....)

When you've finished the wine in the decanter, the die-hards sneak into the kitchen and pour the dregs in their glasses. These people (never me, I assure you!) are easy to spot by the dark red grit in their teeth, from straining.

This method is admittedly problematic in a restaurant, of course, where the bottle may need to go from horizontal to glasses in minutes. My recommendation: if you're thinking of ordering something old (>10 years) and red from a restaurant wine list, try to decide a day ahead, call them and ask them to set it upright. It really makes a difference, especially at restaurant markups for old wine. I generally won't buy old bottles unless I've done this in advance.

If you do buy an old bottle in a restaurant, I say *don't decant it.* It's impossible to avoid the dregs getting all mixed in. Pour carefully into glasses in advance, trying to avoid pouring the dregs. The dregs that do end up in glasses will settle out a bit.

I suppose a wide-bottomed decanter make sense when you're trying to open up something closed by giving it lots of air. But as Kim says, you can get the same effect by pouring it back and forth. (But don't do that with good old wine--it tweaks the taste and mouth-feel--subtly but noticeably.)

I personally love the classic wide-bottomed "sailor's decanter." It makes me feel like Jack Aubrey belting down the last of the '85 (that's 1785) Lafite somewhere off of Mauritius, while he packs on more sail to put his frigate across the hawse of some French 74 so he can rake her stem to stern. ("Gentlemen: The King!" "The bottle stands by you, sir." "Killick! Light along another bottle there. And don't get up to any of your purser's tricks!") Cost Plus in the market has one for like $15. Not fine crystal, but it's huge--holds a magnum (1.5 liters). Also eats a lot of shelf space, of course, and can be a bit heavy even with one bottle in it.

Alternately, another clean empty wine bottle and a funnel works fine. I've never tried a coffee filter but I'm going to try it out when I find myself lacking in foresight.

Oh one more correction. Just cause a wine is unfiltered doesn't mean it has dregs. Most don't, unless the have some years on them. Dregs result from complex molecules clumping together and precipitating. (Not the same as lees.) Takes time.

Thanks for listening....

Steve

[Foodie-Girl]

Listening? I'm enraptured !

[Really Nice!]

I am sad to say that he is all too often correct. I don't like to think about the number of times that I've brought a nice old bottle to drink on corkage, given it to a waiter or even sommelier, and had them cheefully dump the whole bloody thing glug glug into the decanter. This is the worst of all possible approaches, because it mixes all the dregs up with the wine irremediably. And yes, it has a very significant negative impact on the enjoyment of the bottle. (Write for details.)

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Well now I never said to dump the thing in the bottle!

[rockdoggydog]

Has anyone ever used one of the aeration funnels with filters that you see in the IWA catalogue? All this talk of decanting suddenly reminded me them, I've been kind of curious about them for a while.

Rocky

[Really Nice!]

Has anyone ever used one of the aeration funnels with filters that you see in the IWA catalogue?  All this talk of decanting suddenly reminded me them, I've been kind of curious about them for a while.

Rocky

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Yup! I have one and use it for those young, tannic californian cabs. It does the job quite well, but you can probably get the same results by decanting a bottle back and forth between another bottle three or four times.