Decanting

[newtoowine]

Can someone give me some advice on this.
does it have to be done can I just pour in a glass and sit for a while and then how long is too long if I don't plan on finishing a bottle

[Innkeeper]

Most red wines gain from the aeration it gets from decanting. Older wines and some not so old that tend to throw sediment, must be decanted. We've found that both Barbera and Dolcetto from Piedmont sometimes fall into this category. Unfiltered wines tend to do it too.

[Deputy]

And for how long should one normally decant?

[Innkeeper]

As long as it takes. For aeration we just go glug, glug, glug. For sediment do it very carefully. If the young wine is tightly closed you might wait an additioal hour or two as necessary.

[Deputy]

I know this seems silly...and I see it all the time and I almost feel stupid asking it, but hey, if you don't ask, you won't know.

How do you know if a wine is "closed"?

What *exactly* does it mean for a wine to be closed?

The Epicurious wine dictionary says:

closed; closed-in
Descriptor for wine that doesn't show its full potential, most likely due to its youth. AGING will usually open up such a wine as it develops CHARACTER and intensity.

But how do I know what a wine's full potential is?

[Innkeeper]

First of all, we are not talking about a lot of wine. Most wine is (the 90% number is tossed around a lot including by me) ready to drink. If these are medium to full bodied (a good rule of thumb is those over 12.5% alcohol which is a lot of red wine) do the glug, glug, glug. If you have one of the 10% or less that need some age after purchase, then you have to guess when to open it, based on good research from the winery, retailer, here, or elsewhere. If you guessed wrong, then guess how long it needs to breathe. The same goes for a ready to open that doesn't taste quite right. For all these reasons it is best to have a wide mouth decanter such as an old Almaden Wine bottle (use the wine for cooking).

[Deputy]

I love this place.

Thanks IK!