by Neil Bates

Created on: May 28, 2009   Last Updated: May 30, 2009

Decanting your wine is just as important to the experience of drinking a fine red wine as it is to the flavour. The first part of the process of good decanting is to stand you wine bottle up right for a couple of days prior to opening. This will allow any sediment in the wine to settle to the bottom of the bottle. Sediment it particularly common in rich flavoured red or the older vintage. Removing the sediment will make the wine smoother and will also increase the flavour.

When the wine is ready, pour it slowly from the bottle into your decanter. Leave some of the wine in the bottle where you have captured the sediment. To make this easier shining a bright light behind the bottle while you pour will allow you to see the sediment collected at the bottom to be positive that as little as possible is entering the decanter.

All reds' flavour is enhanced by decanting. You will have heard people talk about letting your wine breathe, this is normally thought to be just simply leaving the wine bottle open for a couple of hours before drinking. However, the narrow shaft of the bottle will not allow much exposure to the air - which is the vital ingredient to the breathing process. A decanter will aid the breathing process. The greater surface area that is exposed to the air will increase the efficiency of the decanting.

If you are in a restaurant or do not have a decanter to hand, there is still a little tip to decanting. Swirl the wine around in the glass for some time before enjoying. This will do pretty much the same job.

Decanting also aids the process of getting your red to room temperature, which is obviously the best way to enjoy your wine. If you wine has been stored in the cold, then decanting will speed up the process of its temperature increase. The whole wine will be warmed (or cooled) to the room temperature and will give a better all round flavour and experience.

The final benefit to decanting is the grandeur of the process. Just like tea from a china cup, or beer from a glass. Wine from a decanter is the best way of enjoying the experience of wine drinking. Not only is the flavour of wine bettered, but also it gives a certain amount of sophistication to the relaxing pass time.

In essence, good decanting is all about enjoying good wine. Making the flavour and texture more smooth and enjoyable. While actually adding that something extra to this completely enjoyable experience.

Learn more about this author, Neil Bates.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.