My good buddy Scriptoress asked a question earlier this week about the volatilization of esters—which makes me think this is a good time to discuss decanting.
Many wines, especially young, “tight”, New World reds, and big Bordeaux and Bordeaux-style wines can benefit much from decanting. In fact, those wines are sometimes even better a day or two after opening. Older wines can benefit from pouring them out, opening up the "nose" by exposing the wine to oxygen, and pouring the wine off the sediment before serving.
When I organized tastings for wine writers, the rule we followed was to open all bottles (even whites) a minimum of one hour before tasting. This will help any weird smells to come off the wine and, in some cases, mellow the taste (especially green tannins). While opening the wine before serving is a good idea, decanting reds is even better.
I’m not a scientist, but this is how I understand the physics of decanting: the more surface are a wine has, the greater the volatilization of esters will be, ergo the better the bouquet (smell). Hence, once a red wine is ready to be served, the more oxygen exposed to the wine, the better.
Sometimes pretty, sometimes pretty weird looking, decanters come in all shapes in sizes—many are designed for specific wines. The picture above is of a pretty standard red wine decanter. Once a bottle of wine is poured in, the wine will only be up to about two to three inches off the bottom of the container--therefore creating much more surface area as opposed to in a bottle. When you pour the wine in, you will also be exposing the wine to oxygen.
Double decanting is another alternative for red wines. One pours out the bottle (exposing the wine to oxygen once) into a decanter or any container, then pours it back into the bottle (exposing it to oxygen for the second time). You can then pop the cork back into the bottle and wait for your friends to arrive with the giant cuts of meat for the barbeque.
NB: Decanter is also a great wine magazine published in the UK—http://www.decanter.com/
Many wines, especially young, “tight”, New World reds, and big Bordeaux and Bordeaux-style wines can benefit much from decanting. In fact, those wines are sometimes even better a day or two after opening. Older wines can benefit from pouring them out, opening up the "nose" by exposing the wine to oxygen, and pouring the wine off the sediment before serving.
When I organized tastings for wine writers, the rule we followed was to open all bottles (even whites) a minimum of one hour before tasting. This will help any weird smells to come off the wine and, in some cases, mellow the taste (especially green tannins). While opening the wine before serving is a good idea, decanting reds is even better.
I’m not a scientist, but this is how I understand the physics of decanting: the more surface are a wine has, the greater the volatilization of esters will be, ergo the better the bouquet (smell). Hence, once a red wine is ready to be served, the more oxygen exposed to the wine, the better.
Sometimes pretty, sometimes pretty weird looking, decanters come in all shapes in sizes—many are designed for specific wines. The picture above is of a pretty standard red wine decanter. Once a bottle of wine is poured in, the wine will only be up to about two to three inches off the bottom of the container--therefore creating much more surface area as opposed to in a bottle. When you pour the wine in, you will also be exposing the wine to oxygen.
Double decanting is another alternative for red wines. One pours out the bottle (exposing the wine to oxygen once) into a decanter or any container, then pours it back into the bottle (exposing it to oxygen for the second time). You can then pop the cork back into the bottle and wait for your friends to arrive with the giant cuts of meat for the barbeque.
NB: Decanter is also a great wine magazine published in the UK—http://www.decanter.com/
1 comment:
sweet deal. thanks for the shout out!
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