Now this might be a good subject - Decanting

[mrdutton]

Foodie - I saw a post you made recently in another section of this board about Gwertz. I din't think posting there on the subject of decanting would be appropriate........... So.........here goes:

Decanting has often been recommended to me for any wine older than about 10 years or for younger wines that exhibit sediment build-up on the side of the bottle.

I've been taught that the exception would be for very old, fine wines. In that case, one should stop the pour before the sediment gets a chance to enter the glass (which, it seems, is really kinda like decanting but directly into the glass). My understanding is that you would not want the very old, fine wine to be overly exposed to oxygen before drinking it. Unfortunately I can only go by what I've been told. I've not yet had the pleasure of trying a very old, fine wine. My experience is limited at this point to wines between 15 to 10 years old and younger.

But then that brings up another question. I can understand rapid oxygen exposure in the glass because of the wide opening - and to some extent this is what is wanted to allow the wine to open up, is it not? After all, the wine glasses for drinking Bordeaux and Burgundy have fairly wide openings and bowls which provide a relatively large surface area for exposure to oxygen. However, most of the decanters I've seen have very narrow necks. Would not the narrow neck help reduce exposure to oxygen?

Additonally, if you pour the wine into a glass almost immediately after decanting it into a narrow necked decanter, aren't you limiting its exposure to oxygen in the decanter? It seems to me that one could decant a wine without allowing it to breathe for an excessive amount of time. Decant and drink; at least that way you know you've bypassed the sediment.

Along with decanting comes the question over whether or not one should allow the wine to breath. My personal experience is limited, but I've noticed distinct differences and improvements in taste of most wines I've sampled before and after allowing them to breath. Those I've sampled have been primarily Californian Cabernet Sauvignons in about the 10 to 12 year old category.

Often times, though, I've thought that decanting a wine is just a way of showing-off as a "wine snob". What with the decanter, the candle, the sterling silver funnel (it seems that the holes are not large enough to stop anything unless you've broken the cork into pieces), the decanting cradle and all that, it seems a bit showy. Heck, just pour carefully and slowly; that should prevent the mixing of any sediment with the rest of the wine, should it not?

Comment and discussion are invited and would be greatly appreciated.