All About Decanting

By: Daniel Hoey

The basics of decanting old and young red wines.

Decanting has two purposes: The first is to remove the sediment from a wine, and the second is allowing the wine to breathe. This typically applies to red wines as white wines do not usually need to be decanted.

Wines naturally have very small particles related to the contact with the wine skin during crush and fermentation that, over the years, settle out of the wine. That's why with older red wines, which have much more skin contact, you get more sediment. Most red wines over ten years old will have at least some sediment.

When decanting for the purpose of removing sediment, pour the wine slowly into the decanter, keeping the same side down that was down during the aging process. Be sure not to let the sediment end up in the decanting glass. Some people, with a bottle full of sediment like one might find in an old Vintage Port, pour "over a candle". The candle just helps you see the sediment in the bottle neck better as it begins to slide towards the opening. Still others will use some kind of filter.

Another reason for decanting wine is aerate it, or allow it to "breathe". The decanter is meant to mimic the effects of swirling the wine glass (which is another way to aerate the wine) to stimulate the movement of molecules in the wine to trigger the release of more aroma compounds. This works best with young, big Bordeaux-style reds.

Be careful not to decant too long. An hour or two should be plenty for a young, muscular red that needs time to open up, and once the sediment is removed from an older (ten years and up) bottle I don’t recommend letting the wine sit – whatever fruit remains will likely disappear with all the contact with oxygen and you may find that the old treasure you’ve been saving and patiently decanted is now thin and watery. Having had the experience myself after listening to misinformed people tell me that the older the wine is the longer it should sit in a decanter to open up, I’m happy to save you from the disappointment.