Decanting a wine

Decanting a wine is normally necessary only when drinking an older wine. An older wine can have formed some sediment that you do not want to pour into the glass and therefore you decant the wine. This way the sediment can remain in the bottle, while you are pouring from the decanter. Be aware not to shake the bottle during the whole process. Take the bottle to a standing position a couple of days before opening, especially if you know that the wine contains sediment. This way you will be sure that the sediment will be at the bottom of the bottle when opening it, and thereby you can prevent ending up having it also in the glass.

The first thing to do naturally is to un-cork the wine. Remember to clean the neck of the bottle both between taking off the protective tap and pulling the cork and after pulling the cork. When pulling the cork be attentive of not ruining the cork and thereby leaving some pieces of cork in the wine. Check if the cork smells bad - of mold or oak/cork, it should only smell of wine. Take a small sip of the wine to double check that everything is okay. At this point you slowly pour the wine into the decanter, letting the wine run down the neck of the decanter, while you closely observe that eventual sediment remains in the bottle. This is done easier if you light a candle behind the bottle using the light to put into evidence the moment in which the sediment arrives towards the bottle neck - this way you can stop pouring in time.

The wine might need decanting even if it does not have sediment. After being "locked up" in a practically air tight environment, the wine might be in need of "releasing" its odours. Airing the wine helps in that process and here a decanter is optimum. Having the wine running down the sides of the decanter creates a much larger surface from which the wine can breathe, than what it has at its disposal in the bottle or even in a glass. The process of breathing/opening up for the odours therefore is a lot quicker in a decanter.

Latest update: 25/04/2007