Is decanting ever a bad idea?

[Kcwhippet]

A lot of red wines can be tight and closed down when they're very young,and decanting is a good way to add oxygen and help the wine open up. That sounds like what you're experiencing when your wines are opening up the longer they're exposed to oxygen. With some very young reds, you might also here the term splash decanting, where you actually hold the bottle upside down and let the wine splash out. Brian Loring recommends this with his wines when they're released. The longer they age, there's less of a need to splash. Double decanting is used frequently with reds that have thrown a lot of sediment. You decant the wine, wash out the bottle and decant back into the bottle. I've done this when I've taken an older red (generally) to a tasting and don't want the sediment stirring up on the way.