Decanting Wines

It really wasn't that long ago that decanting a wine when you went around to a mate's place for dinner was, frankly, seen as just a bit of showmanship. Sure you'd feign some interest, ask a few questions and nod your head politely, but once home you'd look over at the wife and say " Honestly, who does he think he is?". However, as wine knowledge has increased, decanting a wine is becoming far more common to ensure that a wine's full potential can be reached and enjoyed.

There are two main reasons for decanting a wine. The reason decanters were originally invented was to allow you to pour your wine in to a fresh receptacle whilst removing any sediment that may have formed in the bottle over time. This was particularly necessary for the times before wine was filtered or fined  using modern winemaking techniques (eg egg whites, casein, etc.). Some wines, particularly aged wines will still ‘throw’ some sediment in to the glass, which as well as being a bad look, is also particularly unpleasant in the mouth. You can read more about how to do this properly in this excellent article from www.thewinedoctor.com.

The second and perhaps most common reason we decant wines today is to allow them to ‘breathe’ or to open up wines, particularly young red wines. We cannot understate the importance of this nowadays, particularly as so few of us cellar wines to their optimum age before drinking.

What Does Decanting actually do?

In short, it exposes the wine to as much oxygen as possible in a very short space of time, helping the wine to open up. Some wines taste particularly tight or closed on the palate and may not release much of their bouquet or aromas without decanting. We have found this to be particularly true of younger, expensive Pinot Noirs, which have a great concentration of flavour which is often missed without some decanting.

Some General Tips on When to decant and for how long

• Younger red wines, and in particular the Bordeaux varieties will benefit the most from decanting

• Chardonnay can also benefit from decanting, and we have even seen wine writers recommending the decanting of some Sauvignon Blancs so that their flavours ‘build’ in the glass with some air.

• Older wines can actually be ruined by decanting, so it is important to pour these wines very slowly in to a decanter if you are removing sediment.

• Do not attempt to decant wines for too long a period. Generally 15-30 minutes before serving is enough. Don’t be afraid to give a young wine a vigorous swirl or shake in the decanter to accelerate the process.

• It is absolutely possible to over-decant a wine. We tried a bottle of Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2008 a year or so ago that had been decanted for 6 hours (!) and the wine had ‘died’ considerably, losing much of it’s flavour and complexity in the glass. A heartbreaking experience and a somewhat embarrassing one for the host I can assure you!

Other Options

There are of course alternatives to using a decanter and avoiding being ridiculed by your less-knowledgeable wine drinking friends:

1) Wines can be decanted in the glass! A damn hardy swirl in the glass can do much the same job as a decanter, and you can sit there in smug satisfaction knowing you are drinking a better wine than that Philistine sitting opposite you.

2) Simply pour the wine in to another receptacle and then abck in to the original bottle before serving.

3) There are a number of wine aeration devices on the market today, that are inserted in to the neck of the bottle and rapidly aerate the wine as it is poured in to the glass. We don't tend to use these here at nzwineonline but the feedback from those who do use them is generally positive. Given the price of most of these devices (often above a whopping $50), we think a nice decanter on the table is a much better option.

Most importantly - don't get hung up too much on the details! Wine is there to be enjoyed, not fretted over, so pour, decant, and enjoy!