Decanting wine - how and why?

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Archie_tect

De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
Location
Northumberland
[QUOTE 1654898, member: 45"]You bunch of southern cissies. Unscrew the cap, put it to your lips, tip the bottle up and glug away.[/quote]

A lot of faff- I'm with Mr P.
 
There will always be the odd exception. I suggest that your Barolo could do with a couple more years in the bottle.

Drinking well now but will continue to improve


- and that there are certain types of wines, Barolo most obviously which may not have been included in Prof Peynaud's experiments with decanting regimes, which can be so concentrated and tannic in youth that to lose some of their initial sensory impressions is a positive benefit.

My point and I don't mind being an exception to the learned Prof.
 

guitarpete247

Just about surviving
Location
Leicestershire
Try one of these.
2134-Decanting-cradle.jpg
They make decanting more precise but a little pricey at £220. If your bottle has a neck and shoulder it makes catching the cr*p easier :cheers:.
 
OP
OP
longers

longers

Legendary Member
Ta for the advice, it didn't have much in the way of sediment and tasted pretty good, which is about the height of my wine critique. Not had Lebanese wine before and wouldn't be averse to drinking it again. No idea how it ended up under the stairs here though.

It'd have been interesting to have two bottles and tried one straight from the bottle for comparison.
 

srw

It's a bit more complicated than that...
Chateau Musar? Seriously good, and a seriously impressive devotion to winemaking in the middle of a war zone. I picked up a bottle of the 2001 vintage of the white in Majestic a couple of days ago - looking forward to trying that.
 

brockers

Senior Member
Yes, yes. Enough of you posh types and your poncy bottles. I've just picked up my first winebox in a year or so from the supermarket. Hang on a minute, I thought. These boxes are a lot smaller than they used to be. Only 2.25 litres? When did that happen fer chrissakes? Oh, and would you decant from a winebox (even when nobody's likely to come round and you don't want to look like a tightwad)?
 

smutchin

Cat 6 Racer
Location
The Red Enclave
[QUOTE 1654898, member: 45"]You bunch of southern cissies. Unscrew the cap, put it to your lips, tip the bottle up and glug away.[/quote]

Or, if you want to avoid disturbing the sediment, use a straw.

d.
 

Archie_tect

De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
Location
Northumberland
After my son spent a year in Dijon, he kept buying red from the published 'good years' which have a dramatic variation... other than that it's all a load of rubbish... modern winemaking reduces sedimentation and improves the quality compared to the old days when turning wine bottles and keeping the corks wet made a difference.
 

Norm

Guest
Drinking well now but will continue to improve.
I'd suggest that needing 6 hours of breathing means it's not drinking well now, but it can be forced to drink OK-ish now.

To me, drinking well means no more than 30-60 minutes after opening, any more than that and you are making up for it being too young.

1961 Barolo, now there is a wine which is drinking well now. :dry:
 
OP
OP
longers

longers

Legendary Member
It was indeed Chateau Musar. I ought to go and find out more about Lebanese wine production so I don't need to ask if there are many more producers for you to have guessed from.
 

PK99

Legendary Member
Location
SW19
It was indeed Chateau Musar. I ought to go and find out more about Lebanese wine production so I don't need to ask if there are many more producers for you to have guessed from.


try: Hochar Père et Fils 2004/2005 Chateau Musar , the baby wine from the Musar stable - much cheaper and better value than either Musar or the equivalent french


Wrt the topic:

there is a lot of confusion about decanting.

Very broadly:

Old red is decanted to remove sediment, but is fragile so decant then drink.

Young quality red and white with ageing potential, is decanted to "open up" the wine / accelerate the ageing process.
young, qulaity Chenin blancs (white) in particular benefit from decanting, but much better to leave for another 5/10 years and enjoy when fully developed!

Young tannic red wine can be softened by sloshing into a jug and back into the bottle

http://www.thewinedoctor.com/advisory/openservedecanting.shtml

ps: I'm at the geeky end of the wine drinking spectrum
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
another one at the unscrew the lid and pour end of the spectrum, I do add some refinements though:-

if it tastes crap then I'll try to remember what it is so that I don't buy it again

in the meantime chilling a red down can help alleviate the crap taste

To be fair though most wines will go with a large donner with extra chilli sauce :whistle:
 
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