How To Decant a Bottle of Wine

Decanting wine is a simple process to help improve the quality of the wine your drink. It is also a step I believe should never be skipped. Why should you decant a bottle of wine? To fully enjoy and experience a bottle of wine you should decant and here I’ll show you how.

First you may ask what is decanting wine. Decanting wine removes the sediment from the bottle of a fine wine by allowing you to pour the wine into a beaker-like container called a decanter. It also allows the wine to aerate and breathe. When pouring the wine from the bottle into the decanter the wine becomes exposed to oxygen which greatly enhances the taste, flavors and aromas of the wine.

Full bodied red wines are the best wines to decant as they usually end up with more sediment than lighter bodied wines or white wines. Fine aged red wines have a lot of bulky sediment and should always be decanted. Keep in mind that when a wine is decanted it ages quickly and will not keep its flavors and aromas more than a day or two. So serve the wine shortly after being decantilized. I typically suggest serving the wine about an hour after being decanted. Be careful not to decant well aged wines between 20-30 years old. Wine when it matures becomes more fragile when exposed to air and will spoil even faster and should be served immediately out of bottle upon opening. If you do decide to decant a wine that is matured that long, serve it immediately after decanting.

Now let us learn how to decant a bottle of wine. First and foremost you should let the bottle of wine you want to decant stand on its base for a solid day or two this will allow the sediment to settle. Next find a candle or have a flashlight ready sitting on the table. If using a flash light stand it on it base with the beam facing up, other wise go ahead and light the candle. It may sound weird but do not skip this step. Now stay about 3-5 inches above the candle or light take the decanter in one hand and the bottle of wine in the other and begin to pour the wine into the decanter. Remember to pour slowly and smoothly as you do not want to accidentally spill sediment into the decanter. Now this is where that light source comes in handy. Watch carefully as you approach the end of the bottle for any sediment entering the bottles neck. Once sediment enters the neck of the bottle stop pouring right away and discard what is left in the bottle of wine which should only be about 10% of the bottle. Now you can serve and pour the wine from the decanter into individually glasses and enjoy.