Is it really even necessary or just a bit of wine pomp and circumstance? Fundamentally, decanting serves two purposes: to separate a wine from any sediment that may have formed and to aerate a wine in the hope that its aromas and flavors will be more vibrant upon serving. Older red wines and Vintage Ports naturally produce sediment as they age white wines rarely do ; the color pigments and tannins bond together and fall out of solution. Decanting is simply the process of separating this sediment from the clear wine.
The question of whether—or how long—to aerate a wine can generate extensive debate among wine professionals. Some feel that an extra boost of oxygen can open up a wine and give it extra life. Others feel that decanting makes a wine fade faster, and that a wine is exposed to plenty of oxygen when you swirl it in your glass. Plus, it can be fun to experience the full evolution of wine as it opens up in your glass; you might miss an interesting phase if you decant too soon.
A particularly fragile or old wine especially one 15 or more years old should only be decanted 30 minutes or so before drinking. A younger, more vigorous, full-bodied red wine—and yes, even whites—can be decanted an hour or more before serving. At some tastings, wines are decanted for hours beforehand and may show beautifully, but these experiments can be risky the wine could end up oxidized and are best done by people very familiar with how those wines age and evolve.
Ask Dr. Sometimes a winemaker will choose to bottle something with residual sediment, but most traditionalists balk at any kind of haze or cloudiness. In the holistic act of appreciating wine, visual irregularities are bound to make a mark on how we first perceive a wine.
Even just a couple of hours is better than nothing. This also makes it unwise to serve an aged wine that was recently transported. Hold a light under the neck of the bottle where it meets the shoulder so you can pay attention to the clarity of the wine. Stop pouring the moment you notice sediment clouding up the wine.
The amount of wine you leave in the bottle will vary depending on the amount of sediment. Preparing your bottle ahead of time will allow for the least amount of waste. When you pour wine from bottle to decanter, air makes its way into the wine. As explained by Dr. Sacks, there are a few processes happening simultaneously when wine is in the presence of air for over an hour.
First is the escape of volatile compounds. The two main culprits in wine are carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Obviously recognizable in sparkling wine, carbon dioxide is also present in still whites, where unnoticed doses of the prickly, acidic gas provide extra lift to the flavor of certain white wines while bringing preservative qualities.
But in most still reds the presence of CO 2 can make the wine more tannic and is usually considered a fault. This is especially common with Syrah.
Thirty minutes to an hour in a decanter can help release those compounds, allowing you to reassess the wine for its other qualities.
List a Wine Red Wine. Shop Red Wine on Sale. Shop White Wine on Sale. Shop Sparkling Wine on Sale. Find a Cellar Blog. Jordan From CellarSpace March 26, Loading Facebook Like button How long should you decant your wine for? That will depend on the age of your wine. What happens if you decant wine for too long?
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