Decanting Wine: When, and Why to Decant Your Wine?

What Is Decanting Wine?

Decanting wine means pouring the wine slowly from the bottle into another container, without disturbing the sediment at the bottom. Wine is often poured into a glass vessel with an easy to pour neck.

Examples are the carafes swan, cornett, duck and standard, which are available in small, medium and large sizes. The Wine Folly poster shows you the different varieties.

What Are the Benefits of Decanting Wine?

Decanting has three main benefits:

1. Decanting separates sediment from liquid.

2. Decanting enhances flavor through aeration.

3. Decanting saves wine in the event of a broken cork.

Which Wines Do You Need to Decant?

From young wine to old wine, red wine to white wine and even rosés, most types of wine can be decanted. In fact, nearly all wines benefit from decanting for even a few seconds, if only for the aeration. However, young, strong red wines particularly need to be decanted because their tannins are more intense. Wines that should absolutely be decanted include:

• Malbec

• Shiraz (Syrah)

• Cabernet Sauvignon

• Bordeaux

• Burgundy

The only wines that shouldn’t be decanted are sparkling wines, like Champagne. That’s because sparkling wines thrive most when they have their bounce, which decanting and aeration reduces.