To Decant or Not To Decant…

Decanting is a great way to get more flavour and aroma out of your wine as it comes into contact with oxygen as you pour it and with the greater surface area – this opens up a wine. Sometimes people will talk about wines being “tight” – this loosens it and lets the tannins relax and soften while the flavours ingrate even more.

However, as lovely as it looks you don’t actually need a fancy crystal wine decanter….a jug works just as well.

Some wines may benefit from a 20-30 minute decant, some may need hours. Almost all wines will benefit from a little opening up but the time will depend on the robustness of your wine and the strength of its tannins.

Here are some top decanting tips:

As a rule, the younger the wine, the longer decant time it can handle – if in doubt, take a sip at the start and judge for yourself.

Some older aged wines can be pretty delicate and could lose some of their perfume, so don’t leave them to sit for toooo long.

If you know or suspect a wine may have sediment, then stand the bottle upright for at least an hour before pouring. The sediment will settle off the bottom and then when you are gently pouring you can see the sediment collecting at the wine’s shoulder – then stop tilting the bottle then before it falls into the decanter (or glass).

If you’re worried about your finely tuned pouring then you can also put a coffee filter over your decanter or jug to catch the sediment but let the wine flow through.

And finally, what about white wines?

Though decanting is usually the domain of the red wine due to their tannins, there are aromas and flavours in whites, especially fuller bodied or aromatic wines, so by all means decant these too – just be careful they don’t warm up too much.