A Few Words About Decanting

You’ve all probably seen it done, either at a well-wine endowed friend’s place, or at one of those fancy-shmancy restaurants. The act, or art, of decanting wine may seem somewhat strange.  Why not just pop and pour your wine from bottle to glass?  While decanting may seem like a pretentious oenological lab experiment, it actually serves two distinct purposes.

Decanting’s primary purpose is to clarify sediment found in wine.  Sediment in unfiltered, or long-aged reds is made up of dyed tartrate crystals and pigmented tannins.  Though it may look like black sludge, it’s tasteless and harmless.  Decanting separates this “sludge” from getting into your glass, making it look much more alluring.

Secondly, decanting also aerates wine.  Oxygen is a reactive chemical and pouring wine into a decanter exposes oxygen all around it and through it.  For youthful, rich, tannic reds, this softens and refines some of the more aggressive tannins.  This aeration also releases a wine’s bouquet, or aromas from bottle aging.  However, for long aged wines, some think it does this too much and can diffuse its delicate perfume. 

Decanting doesn’t just look good.  Decanting wine isn’t done just to increase your waiter’s tip or to let your friend flex his wine guns.  It clarifies wine, releases aromas, softens harsh tannins and can even save wine from faults.  Next time you open a bottle of a young and tannic, or aged red wine, carefully pour it into a decanter, give it a little time to “breathe”, and decide for yourself if it’s worth the extra time and dishwashing.