What is decanting and do I need to do it?

What is decanting and do I need to do it?

A good decanter

also a good decanter

Recently, there's been this Tik Tok trend in which people put really cheap wine in a blender and say that it tastes better. Now I don't personally have a Tik Tok, but I've been sent these videos on at least 4 different occasions and it got me thinking about decanting/aeration. Also, I don't have a wine I want to write about at the moment, so here's a nice rundown on decanting.

As you've probably noticed, oxygen is very important in wine. It lifts aromas out of the glass, lets certain aromas shine through or balance out, allows tannins to meld better, and even plays a key role in aging. In fact, when we swirl the wine in our glass, it's not because we're trying to look pretentious! It's to aerate the wine and let small amounts of oxygen dissolve into it. Aeration effectively simulates a hyper-fast aging process. Whereas in bottle aging, tiny amounts of oxygen seep through the cork and mixes with the wine, decanting or aerating allows for greater amounts of air in a shorter period of time. This results in a similar effect as bottle aging (softer tannins, lifted aromas, more balance), but usually, it's not quite as effective as bottle aging. That being said, for like 95% of wines, swirling the wine in the glass is sufficient to aerate it. In fact, most wines that are purchased are made to be consumed upon release and don't need much oxygen at all. But, some wines can really benefit from more air. These are usually big reds that are still very young and high in tannins (Cabs, Syrahs, Nebbiolo, etc. Also, really nice Champagnes, but I'm gonna skip that one. If you're high rolling, shoot me a message and I'll geek out about Champagne for you). This is where decanting comes in.

Decanting has two working definitions. In one sense, decanting is a traditional method of service which allows you to separate the wine from the sediment at the bottom. You pour the wine out of the bottle and into another vessel (a decanter) and stop pouring once you reach the sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Pretty simple, but unless you're drinking old reds, you don't really have to ever worry about this. The other, more common idea of decanting is to oxygenate a wine. By pouring wine out of a bottle and into a (wider) vessel, you allow for lots of oxygen to mix into the wine faster than it would if you just opened a bottle.

It's always fun to experiment with decanting, and I would definitely encourage you to try it with your next wine! Remember that it's not completely necessary for most wines, but it will never really harm the wine's quality, so no harm in messing around with it. If you do decide to decant, I would start with letting it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. But remember, if you don't feel like decanting, chances are swirling will work just fine. As for putting wine in a blender, I don't really know why people are doing that... but go off I guess.

drink what you like,

db