How to Decant Wine
Jan 3rd, 2010 by Kenny
Some would say that decanting a wine is just moving a wine from its bottle to a carafe or another container. I would disagree with this. It is much more than just moving the wine from one container to another. At least it should be much more. Decanting a wine is the process of moving your wine to a decanter that allows your wine to gain a lot of open surface (gain oxygen) so that the wine can breath. This is very important when it comes to wine. You see when wine is bottled it is deprived of air for a number of years or a number of months.
Decanting was not always used to get a better taste from a wine. At one time in history decanting was a way to pour off the good wine leaving wine with sediment back in the bottle. This was when more of the grape was left in the wine after being crushed. People that drink the wine after it was aged did not want to drink the sediment and wanted to remove as much as they could before taking a single sip of the wine. Today, this is not a problem. Most wines are filtered before being bottle so you will not see sediment left in the wine after bottling.
So the question to ask now is having too much oxygen bad for a wine. Yes and no. When the bottle is closed for aging yes too much oxygen is very bad for a wine. That is why wine makers take so much care to seal a bottle of wine. Now, when the bottle is opened oxygen is your friend. Exposure helps to soften and mellow the flavor. This is especially the case with high-tannin wines and heavy wines.
In short, you should consider decanting for: Cabernet Sauvignons, Zinfandels, Barolos, Bordeauxs, Chardonnays, and Shiraz. It serves much the same function as swirling the wine around in a glass does; it opens up the wine and allows it to attain its peak potential taste and nose.
So, how to decant a wine. First find a decanter that provides a lot of area for the wine to get oxygen. Next, pour the bottle of wine in the decanter and let it sit in the decanter for the entire day. That means pour the wine in the decanter in the morning so you can enjoy it at dinner. It is a easy as that. You will soon be enjoying your favoriate wine.
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