Before you enjoy a glass of your favorite wine, there’s one thing you must consider: decanting. Decanting your wine is a process of slowly pouring your freshly-opened wine inside a decanter, a glass vessel with a long, easy-to-pour neck. Wine decanters have various shapes and sizes like cornett, duck, swan, and standard decanters. Purchasing your wine decanters is necessary as it is used to filter, improve, and save your wine. If you have the skill to decant your bottled wine, consider purchasing wine decanters.
Are Decanters Useful?
As long-aged wine is getting accessible in the market, the need to use decanters is getting less of a trend. But for wine connoisseurs, using wine decanter will release the unknown flavors of their purchased wines.
Selecting your decanter
If you are new to decanting wines, the first step is to find your decanter. Straight spouts found in standard decanters have wider circumference suitable for amateur wine decanters.
If you could slowly pour wines without spilling, you may consider the twisted spout types like the swan, duck, and cornett. The curved-spout structure of these decanters incorporates more oxygen on the wine, making it aerated.
Benefits of wine decanters
Decanting your wine separates the liquid from the sediments that settle on the bottom of the wine bottle. Sediments naturally occur on wine products, but it has a bitter, unpleasant taste inside the mouth. Using your decanter could make the filtering process easier.
While filtering, the liquid inside your wine is introduced with oxygen, allowing it to “breathe.” Aeration in wine quickly improves the wine flavor by allowing your wine’s dormant aroma and flavor to absorb air. You can get the same aged wine flavor by simply decanting your wine.
If your wine cork has already been tampered with, it could spill your precious wine. To prevent this from happening, transfer the contents of your wine inside the decanter. Decanters are a useful storage tool to keep your wine in good shape. Before transferring, strain your wine to prevent large chunks of wooden cork from entering the decanter.
Wine decanters could be paired up with aerating funnel. Aerating funnel could be placed at the spout’s top to introduce more oxygen in the liquid to make it more aerated than using a wine decanter alone.
Does Decanting Wine Improve It?
Decanting your wine improves the quality. If you want to transform your affordable wine into a great-tasting one, then use a decanter. Decanting the wine improves your wine’s taste by increasing the liquid’s exposure to oxygen, softening the tannins by letting the fruity and floral flavor come out.
Tannin leaves a mouth-drying, astringent-like sensation inside the mouth. This sensation could be unpleasant for some wine drinkers, which could be avoided by decanting wines.
The wider the decanter’s base, the faster it is to aerate. Red wines with high tannin content need more time inside a decanter. Investing in various wine decanters for every wine type could prevent over-aerating your drink. Over-aerating occurred when the wine stayed too long inside an opened decanter.
After decanting your wine, you may re-pour its contents inside the sediment-free bottle, or you may seal the ends of your wine decanter with cork or purchasable seals.
Wide-based decanters
For full-bodied red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell, and Tempranillo, use a decanter with a wide base. Large-based decanters will incorporate more air in the full-bodied liquid, making it faster to soften the hard-hitting tannins.
Medium-based decanters
Red wines with medium amounts of tannins like Barbera, Dolcetto, Merlot, and Sangiovese required a medium-based decanter. Medium-based decanter like cornett and swan could give the right amount of oxygen needed for the wine to aerate. Over-decanting or prolonged aeration of wines could make the wine flat and reduce its flavor.
Small-based decanters
For light-bodied red wines, using a small-based decanter is enough to aerate your drink. Light-bodies red wines like Beaujolais and Pinot Noir have a small number of tannins, which could be released moderately using small-based decanters like standard size and swan-shaped ones.
White wines, sparkling wines, and wine-infused drinks don’t necessarily require decanting. But, if you prefer decanted white wines, you may pour your drink inside a small chilled wine decanter.
Instead of leaving it open for hours, consume your decanted wine white within 10 to 30 minutes to prevent over-aerating your drink.
When Should You Use a Wine Decanter?
Using a wine decanter is necessary if you like your bottled wine to be more pleasant in the tongue. Suppose you want to separate the liquids from their sediments. In that case, a wine decanter (with an aerated funnel if desired) should be used.
If you want to improve and unlock the hidden flavors of your drink, decant your wine. If you want to add a special preparation for your guests and loved ones, you may consider wine decanting.
Red wines contain small to many tannins, leaving a stingy, bitter taste in the mouth. It could be aerated by slowly filtering the contents of your wine bottle inside a decanter. A decanter must be chilled for 3 to 6 hours before use.
Do not shake or stir the wine bottle to prevent the sediments from lifting. If you are not sure if your wine bottle was shaken, leave it standing on the countertop or table for 2 to 3 hours. This will place the floating sediments under the bottle.
To prepare your decanted wine, release the chilled decanter from the chiller. Slowly, open your wine bottle and hold it under the neck of the bottle. Make sure that your shoulders are comfortable in the pouring position.
Pay great attention to the wine stream as you pour its contents on the decanter’s spout. As soon as you’ve notice sediments reaching near the end of the bottle, stop pouring. Throw the remaining liquid inside the wine bottle and clean its content.
If you want to reuse the wine bottle, make sure that it is dry and clean. You may decant your wine from 2 to 6 hours. Longer hours could make your wine flat by decreasing its flavor and aroma.
