Decanting red wines is somewhat common. Decanting a white wine is less common. But, decanting a sparkling wine? Really? The answer is again, Yes! Decanting a sparkling wine may seem a bit unorthodox and even counter-intuitive, but a sparkling wine ...
When one thinks about decanting a wine, usually it’s a red wine. Decanting a red wine is generally done for several reasons including allowing any trapped off-smelling odors to quickly dissipate, allowing the wine to “open up” to reveal greater chara...
A decanter is a great vessel to allow a wine to breathe. And, really any container will help a wine breathe. But, all too often, the decanter ends up looking like the one pictured here. This is a beautiful carafe and it’s a great addition to a bar o...
You may have heard about pulling the cork on a bottle of wine and “letting it breathe.” Those that follow this practice may give the un-corked bottle thirty minutes to an hour before declaring that “the wine is now ready to drink!” While pulling the...
While catching up on some recent reading, I came across an article looking at wine decanting versus aerating. The bottom line presented in the article was that older wines should be decanted and young wines should be aerated. This caused me to pause...
Last time we learned that some red wines can make your mouth feel dry due to the natural tannin in the wine that comes from the grape’s skin, seeds and stems. But, if you don’t care for highly tannic wines, there are some things you can do. The tann...
Years ago, I was visiting a friend who knew I enjoyed wines and wanted to share a bottle with me. They opened the bottle and took a sip. With a look of disappointment on their face, they proclaimed that the wine need some time “to breathe.” So, wit...
Drinking wine is a pleasurable experience that is quite simple. And, as winemaker Charles Smith puts it “It’s just wine. Drink it.” But for many people, wine tasting can be a very intimidating experience. But it shouldn’t be. In the past, I’ve writt...
As discussed last time, decanting a wine can make a real difference. Decanting allows for some quick evaporation and exposes the wine to oxygen. Both improve the flavor of the wine, usually in just a few minutes or up to a couple of hours. But I rec...
Seeing a wine steward decanting a bottle of wine in a restaurant can look ‘showy’ or a bit pretentious. And a wine decanter can be a beautiful thing to display, with or without wine in it. So why decant a wine? The simple answer is that decanting a...