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TO DECANT OR NOT TO DECANT

 

By Carolyn Evans Hammond, published in Outreach Connection and distributed privately on 29/01/10

A friend asked me the other day, Carolyn, every time I ask someone this question, I get a different answer.  Tell me, which wines should you decant?

 

The short and probably surprising answer is, all red wines.  They’ll pretty much all improve and if they don’t, they’ll certainly not be any worse off.  And for good reason.

 

Decanting is quite simply pouring wine from the bottle to another vessel—be it a fancy decanter, a regular glass jug, or another clean wine bottle.  And it’s done to either (a) separate the liquid from the sediment of old reds, or (b) to expose it to oxygen to release more flavour.  Sediment free and nicely-aerated mean better wine. 

 

Vintage Port and bold reds with significant time spent in bottle—I’m talking 10 years or more—all throw sediment.  As do unfiltered reds with as few as two or three years of bottle age.  Sediment is essentially a dark purple sludge or flakey bits made of grape skin particles that were once dissolved in the wine.  The sediment settles to the bottom of the bottle and isn’t particularly nice to drink.  So, you separate it by decanting.

To decant for this reason, you would pour the wine into another vessel, shining a light behind the bottle to see what you’re doing, and taking care to stop when the sludge threatens to slip into the bottle neck.  

 

The other reason to decant is to aerate wine.  It’s generally accepted among wine professionals all young reds improve with decanting—cheap or expensive.  It’s also thought all fine, ageworthy red wines, meaning those such fine Bordeaux, Amarone, Barolo, and top-flight Californian Cabernets, benefit from decanting.  In fact, the only wines that probably don’t gain much from decanting are lighter-bodied wines bottled ready to drink such as Beaujolais.  So, if you ever want to improve a red, decant it.

 

Whites and roses are different.  Though they don’t throw sediment, some may improve with decanting, especially full-bodied whites such as Condrieu—the rich Viognier-based white from France’s Rhône region—and complex gems like fine white Burgundy.  But the improvement wouldn’t be much different than pouring the wine from bottle to glass and giving it a good swirl before sipping.  So, I would say, decanting is for reds, not whites.   

 

And of course decanting sparkling wine just flattens it but I know you know this so I won’t mention it.  This reminds me of another inanity: the idea that you should uncork a wine ahead of time to let it breathe.  Full-on lie.  Probably thought up by a wine expert seeing how far she could pull the wool over the eyes of preciously pretentious, pompous and probably drunk wine snobs, who took it in unquestioning and repeated the act at dinner parties where it spread like a bad virus and is now epidemic.  But think about it.  How much aeration do you really think happens to that nickle-sized surface of wine exposed? 

 

But aeration is a good thing with red wines and the best way to achieve it is through decanting. To see for yourself, taste any of the newly released, totally underpriced bottles listed below before and after decanting.  I think you’ll be surprised.

 

Alamos Malbec 2008, Mendoza, Argentina (LCBO#0467951 $13.95) Here is a brilliant version of Malbec at an incredible price. With dense notes of plum purée, black licorice, black pepper, tar, leather, and roses on the nose and palate, it is complex and smooth with firm, ripe tannins on the finish. Served with roasted meat, it’s hard to beat—especially decanted. Full-bodied with 13.5% alc. 

Blackstone Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, California, USA (LCBO#0714816 $15.95)  Quintessential fruit bomb here—but in a good way. An initial blast of berry flavor cascades with rushing notes of cherry, saddle leather, warm caramel, and spice anchored by fine, ripe tannins. A nice decant will bring all the flavours to the fore and the finish is all about cherries and leather. Full-bodied with 13.5% alc.

And I’ll finish with one for the golfers out there.  Greg Norman Estates Shiraz/Cabernet 2007, Limestone Coast, South Australia (LCBO#0586156 $24.95).  One big lick of ripe black forest fruits imbued with chocolate, espresso and spice notes.  Quite concentrated, suggesting it would benefit well from a brisk decant.  Full-bodied with a cleansing stroke of acidity and 14.5% alc.

 

Carolyn Evans Hammond’s latest book, Good Better Best Wines, A No-Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines, hits shelves in April.  Her critical articles and reviews have appeared in such eminent magazines as Decanter and Wine & Spirit International in the United Kingdom, as well as Maclean’s, Taste, and Tidings in Canada and her first book, 1000 Best Wine Secrets, earned critical acclaim and international distribution with the distinction of being a best-seller by Canadian standards.  Qualified sommelier and seasoned journalist, Carolyn holds the Diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and a BA from York University.  Carolyn has lived in many cities in North America and Europe, and now resides in Toronto, where she was born.

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