Is decanting ever a bad idea?

[Triple H]

For most red wines, or really any red I guess, I'm wondering if decanting should be the norm. I've had many bottles open up near the end of the bottle, or the next day, so is there any harm in always decanting?

Also, I've heard the term "double decant". what does that mean?

[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.

[Innkeeper]

The authors of "Wine For Dummies" have a different definition of double decanting than KC. They say it is used when decanting for aeration purposes, whereby you pour the wine from decanter to another, and perhaps even back again to fully aerate the wine.

I don't know who is correct or maybe both. We decant all but the lightest red wines such as Beaujolais Nouveau. Most reds meant to be consumed young benefit from at least some aeration.

Older or aged out reds need to be decanted very carefully. We use a decanting funnel to make this process a little easier. If the sediment is very fine, even this doesn't help. Sometimes we will run the last fifth or sixth end of the bottle through an unbleached coffee filter. Once you get these wines into a decanter, drink it up right away; because a aged out red will fade fast.

[Triple H]

Thanks! Since my collection is still quite young, I think I'll start decanting more. which leads to the next question....what kind of decanter do I need? I use Riedel glasses as I understand the benefit there, but won't on old thick glass carafe do just as good a job of simply aerating the wine? Some decanters can get quite expensive!

[Innkeeper]

Empty Almaden bottles make great decanters. Use the original contents for cooking or cleaning the cat.