Decanting wine: How and why

Preserving wine treasures is a knowledge that is highly recognized by wine connoisseurs, restaurants, sommeliers and collectors. Those who consider a captivating ceremony of retrieving a bottle from an old wooden wine cabinet and taking pleasure in each sip, soon discover that fully enjoying wine includes learning how to decant it.

The entire process of decanting relates to cautiously pouring the wine from its bottle or vessel into a decanter, usually a glass pitcher or carafe. This transfer allows to avoid the passing of wine sediment to the glass or to aerate the wine.

Wine experts consider that the best decanter should be a long-necked glass vessel with a wide-bottom surface area. Such structure allows oxygen to better reach the wine, resulting to a smoother, mellower finish.

The need for decanting emerged long before the contemporary winery filtration and bottling process. In the older days, before so many wines were habitually fined and filtered to ensure a crystal-clear state, it was ordinary for wines to contain a substantial degree of solid matter. To remove sediment before bringing wine to the table, it was quite a routine to decant wine into an elegant decanter.

Today, decanting serves three purposes:

- Removing the sediment

Old wines that have been cellared properly, typically red wines rather than white, will contain sediment due to the aging process of perhaps ten years or more. The sediment may be a mixture of grape skins, yeast and other ingredients. Although it is harmless, the sediment is often unattractive to the eye and displeasing to the mouth and can ruin the colour and appeal of the wine. By properly following the decanting process, the sediment remains in the bottle, the wine tastes sweeter and its texture becomes smoother.

- Aerating the wine

A bottle of wine can be considered as a room that needs to be aired if it has remained closed for a long period of time. As such, opening a long aged wine before drinking is essential. Young wines that have not been aerated may have a bitter, rather alcoholic taste. When they come in contact with the oxygen in the large surface area of the decanter, they release their aromas and are automatically altered, and softened. Exposing wine to the air allows it to breathe. Aeration is so important because we can only distinguish four types of tastes with our tongue, while all the other impressions from wine come through our nose. All the aromas that are developed after years of aging mingle with the air and become more intense and more complex.

- Setting a beautiful ambiance

Sometimes, decanting is applied for presentation purposes. Bringing wine to the table in a fine-looking crystal decanter creates the atmosphere of a beautifully prepared dinner.

The fundamentals of how to decant wine have been a collective knowledge since antiquity. The process of decanting has its traces in the olden days when wine was kept in barrels to age until it was ready to be transferred to other kegs before storing or serving.

Today, the process of decanting is completed in some simple steps:

- One day prior to decanting, put the bottle in an upstanding position so that the sediment falls to the bottom of the bottle. Before starting the decanting process, assemble a corkscrew, a decanter and a candle.

- First, remove the foil and cork. If the wine has matured for many years, the cork may be extremely dry and therefore, be extra careful when corking so that it doesn't split or break. It is preferable to remove the whole capsule in order to have a full view of the bottle neck while decanting. Also, it is important to carefully clean the neck and mouth of the bottle with a towel so that no dirt or debris falls into the bottle.

- Then, hold the wine bottle in one hand and the decanter in the other. The candle should be held behind the neck of the decanter so as to illuminate the sediment that will possibly try to flow into the decanter. Hold the neck of the bottle close to the candlelight and with steady, careful movements, start pouring the wine into the decanter. While pouring, watch out for any debris, yeasts or a cloudy presence. If any of these are present, stop decanting immediately.

If decanting is applied so that wine is aerated, the wine should sit in the decanter half to one hour before drinking. The goal is to help the wine release its aromas and flavors into the air.

Decanting wine can be a ritual that shows the way to pure pleasure. It is a mystifying, yet simple process, a delicate art that adds to the love of enjoyment. To be appreciated, a wine needs to have a divine smell. To achieve that, it needs more air. Nowadays, decanting is a necessity, and it certainly adds a touch of stylishness and sophistication to any exceptional occasion.