At our last Diamond Ridge wine club meeting, there was some discussion about decanting red wine. Decant young hearty red wine to help it “open up” or quickly allow the tannins to mature. Unlike the technique for decanting old wines, new wine decanting can take place up to an hour prior to serving and slow, careful pouring is not required. Fragile red wines should never be decanted as such aeration can cause a sharp metallic flavor. Swirling wine in a glass offers good aeration as well and can be done as needed.
Those of you who are handling older wines, decanting removes the sediment that has developed over the years. Before decanting an older wine, be sure to stand it up for 6-12 hours so that the sediment settles to the bottom of the bottle. Decant just prior to serving and handle the wine very gently.
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December 16th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Wish I lived close enough to attend the monthly wine club meetins!! Maybe soon! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Thanks for all the wonderful info on this site!
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:37 pm
I want an imported Redwine….Like this one…..
January 25th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
However, if you don’t have 6-12 hours to decant an older bottle of wine before serving, then perhaps a cradle will be necessary to properly serve and decant the bottle, without getting all the sediment into the decanter. Here’s a good video on “Decanting mature red wines”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHFmFKGpYKI&NR=1