Performing the ceremonial rituals of wine consumption can be a fascinating journey for the wine enabled.  From pulling that evening’s perfectly aged bottle, to gently pouring the wine into your best crystal decanter, to swirling the wine in your Riedel Sommelier glassware; it is not just the wine itself that provides all the pleasure throughout an evening.  For some, it is a performance done to satisfy a savant like desire.  For others it is a fancy display applauded by one's friends.  At the same time, it is usually done with a specific reason and purpose sometimes unknown to the casual observer.

Let’s take wine decanting for example.  Regardless of the ritualistic reasons, do we really know why we should, or should not, decant a wine?  This is a wine lover's dilemma only solved through years of sommelier training and practical experience.  Think I'm lying?  Well, you are right, I am lying.  With some simple explanations most anyone who has enjoyed a little wine from time to time can easily learn the value of decanting a wine, and why they are doing it, or why they should not do it.

There are a few differing opinions on the matter, but most agree that the reasons for decanting a wine can change based on the wine being decanted.  If it’s an older wine, the usual text book answer of what wine decanting does suits us just fine.  It would say that decanting is used to remove wine from the bottle in such a way that the sediment is not disturbed and remains at the bottom of the bottle.  This is desirable because sediment has a bitter flavor that should not be mixed in the glass with the wine you are drinking.  In my opinion it is acceptable if the wine is a little bit cloudy due to the sediment getting mixed up a touch, but the larger particles will certainly be noticeable and will detract from the taster’s experience of the wine.  This is especially true with wines that are not fined and filtered.  This essentially means there are more particles in a wine that will end up settling down to the bottom, so decanting this type of wine is especially useful.

Others would say decanting is most often used to aerate a wine, or to let a wine breathe.  Through decanting, a large surface area of wine gets exposed to oxygen.  This will help smooth out the rough tannins in a younger wine and bring the darker fruits out into the bouquet and palate.  This is usually done for younger wines that haven’t developed to their full potential yet.

I believe both reasons are valid, and will decant my wines for both of these reasons.  Even the older wines benefit from breathing a bit, though it might not take as long for a wine to fully come around if it is older.  Sometimes just five or ten minutes in a decanter is enough for aged wines.  Younger wines however can sometimes benefit with an hour or more in the decanter.  It is arguable, but not unheard of, for a wine becoming even better the next day after 12 or more hours, though usually it will have turned to vinegar by then.  I personally do not experiment like this, unless it is by mistake.  If I decant a wine but can not finish it and want to save it for the next day, I will use some type of system that cuts the wine off from any more contact with oxygen.  It’s difficult to stop the aeration process completely however, so drink up within a few days at most.

Decanting will usually not harm a wine, but as I started to mention, there are exceptions.  It sometimes can be disastrous at times if you aren't prudent about your drinking window once the wine is opened or if a "splash decant" is performed on an older wine.  These older vintages that have had a lot of time to age can be very delicate and susceptible to any harsh treatment.  It is said that doing a "splash decant" on a particularly old wine can harm its structure and break apart the complex flavor chains that get created with time as a wine ages.  One of the main reasons for aging is the creation of these complex flavor chains, so destroying them certainly isn’t a good result of decanting. 

Further, if an older wine is gently decanted, it sometimes can not stand too much oxygen for any length of time before starting to break down into a more vinegar like drink.  The fruits will disappear and it will seemingly taste thin and acidic.  Leaving a delicate wine like this in the bottle will help prevent too much exposure to oxygen.

If you are new to wine, get out there, buy a decanter that catches your eye, and get decanting.  Leave a comment if you have any questions.  I'd be happy to answer them for you if I can.  If I can't, the members of VinoCellar.com will be more than happy to give it a shot in the wine forums.

If you are already a seasoned decanting specialist, leave a comment about why you decant your wine.  I’d love to hear your opinion.