Secret Vines Blog
To decant, or not to decant......
5th March, 2010
One thing is for sure - I don't make the rules! But today I want to discuss one of wine's long running questions, 'to decant or not to decant?'
I know some people that will decant all of their wines. However, I suspect the idea of always allowing a wine "to breathe" is overdone. 
Once a wine is aerated, its aromas start to fade. This may be a good thing if it's overtly strong to begin with. The problem is, if it's a subtle wine or particularly old, you risk losing what remains of the precious aromas - sometimes in under 15 minutes.
So, here's a little guide on how to decide whether to decant or not;
1. Crack the wine, have a smell and a taste - if it tastes good, drink it.
2. If it's a particularly young red which tastes a little harsh or raw, decant it. Have another smell and taste in 15 minutes. Get stuck in if you're happy with its progress, if not, give it another 15 minutes.
3. Generally if the wine smells and tastes alright when it's first opened, then there's no need to decant it. The one exception is an old wine where there is sediment in the bottle. If that's the case, rest the wine upright first (so the sediment falls to the bottom of the bottle), then gently pour the wine into the decanter leaving the sediment in the bottle. Don't leave it too long however, else you'll lose those precious aromas we spoke of before.
As for what makes a suitable decanter - there's no need for anything too fancy! Any glass vessel will do which lets air touch a fair amount of the surface area of the wine. A coffee plunger (less the metal bits) is near perfect. I've even used a flower vase in an emergency!
And yes, occasionally I do recommend decanting Secret Vines wines. That's because I line them up on the tasting bench and come back to them in regular intervals. So I've tried and tested them to see when they're at their best.
Have a great weekend and don't forget to get in touch if you need to top up the cellar.
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