Decanting

Decanting is when you pour the wine from the bottle into a carafe before serving it. It is done for two reasons. The first is to separate a clear wine from the sediment that can form in the bottle, especially in older red wines. Over time, colour pigments and tannins bind together and fall to the bottom as a fine sediment, and it tastes gritty and bitter if it ends up in the glass. By pouring the wine slowly and steadily, while stopping as soon as the sediment nears the neck of the bottle, you let the murky part stay behind in the bottle.

The second reason is air. When the wine meets oxygen, the aroma and flavour often open up, and that can lift young, powerful red wines that seem closed or tight right after opening. A little oxygen softens the impression and releases more fruit and spice. Keep in mind, though, that very old and fragile wines can fade quickly in air, so here decanting is mostly about removing sediment, not about giving plenty of air.

A common misunderstanding is that all wine benefits from decanting. Delicate white wines and light red wines do just fine in the glass alone. As a rule of thumb, you look for visible sediment or a young wine with powerful structure before you reach for the carafe.