Decanting

作者: Grant Van Every        来源: 《酒典》www.winemagcn.com|原创作品 谢绝转载

fine wine and liquor magazine

The great piece of theatre in a traditional European restaurant sees a white gloved, bow-tied Sommelier carefully prising a cork out of a precious wine bottle then painstakingly pours the wine from the bottle into another vessel with the precision of a micro-surgeon. This is an example of decanting. Is this procedure necessary and should it be restricted to the confines of the restaurant and its wine professional team? The simple answer is yes and no. The enjoyment of certain wines will be greatly enhanced by decanting and you should decant wines yourself when not in the restaurant if you have a wine that will benefit from decanting.

There are three major reasons where decanting can improve the wine experience;

  1. Removing sediment from aged red wines
  2. Allowing young robust red wines to breathe
  3. Removing tartaric crystals from white wines

Red wine that is more than 6 years old will most likely have a sediment of solid particles that had previously been suspended in the liquid. This sediment is primarily comprised of tannin, an anti-oxidant that protects the fruit flavours of the wine from oxidation. The tannin has a bitter flavour so it is not pleasant to consume therefore decanting the wine will allow you to separate the sweet and pleasant wine from the bitter sediment. The amount of tannin will vary according to the grape variety and sometimes be affected by winemaking techniques but as a general rule the following varieties produce wines that have significant tannin levels; Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo and Shiraz. Some notable low tannin varieties are Pinot Noir and Gamay and they generally do not benefit from being decanted.

Decanting mature red wine cannot be undertaken on the spur of the moment, you need to plan ahead and the day before drinking the wine take the bottle from its horizontal position in the cellar and stand it upright to allow the sediment to settle at the bottom of the bottle. You will require a few tools. Firstly you need a decanter that is typically a clear glass bowl with a tapered opening. If the opening is small you may need a funnel to prevent the precious wine being spilt. You will also need a light source such as a candle. Make sure that you have a quality corkscrew and a clean napkin on hand. White gloves are optional by the way.

Extract the cork and remove the foil from near the lip of the bottle and wipe clean with the napkin. Light the candle and position yourself with your line of sight right above the candle.  Slowly pour the wine from the bottle into the decanter making sure that you can see the light of the candle through the neck of the wine bottle. Stop pouring when you see the sediment getting close to the opening of the bottle. The wine will be ready to drink in 15-20 minutes. Do not wait too long as you may miss out on some intense perfume that will constantly change as the wine comes into contact with the air.

Sometimes you may not to be able to wait for 6 years to allow the sediment to drop out of the wine and if you are drinking a robust young red wine you may wish to decant it in order to aerate the wine and in so doing soften the effects of the tannin. Here you do not need to worry about the candle and you can pour the wine a little faster to allow exposure to the air. It also helps if your decanter has a capacity larger than a standard bottle of wine (750ml) as you can swirl the wine around to further expose the liquid to the air. You can open the wine several hours in advance to assist in this softening procedure. In fact young Barolos made from the great Nebbiolo grape variety will benefit from being opened the night before you drink the wine.

The other main reason for decanting relates to white wine and occurs when the tartaric acid that is normally dissolved in the wine falls out as solid crystals. Quite often these wines come from very cool climate wine countries such as Germany and Austria where the natural tartaric acid level in the grape juice is high. Should the wine spend a considerable time in a refrigerated environment the liquid is not able to support all the acid that had previously been dissolved. The winemakers euphemistically call these crystals ‘wine diamonds’ and you can safely eat them however, as they are quite sour, I guarantee you wont enjoy the experience. Follow the same decanting steps as you would for mature red wines and you will be able to enjoy the wine in all its glory.

You can probably enjoy drinking a great wine from almost any container although I draw the line at the recent trend of celebrating a race victory from a smelly boot of a Formula 1 driver. The enjoyment will be intensified, however, if you use the right glassware.

Glassware

More than likely as you taste more wines and become a true wine lover you will accumulate an assortment of different glasses that are very specific in their application. To get started, however, all you really need are three types of glasses, white, red and sparkling. Despite a modern trend that favours stem-less glasses the glass should have a significant stem as this is where you should hold the glass keeping your warm, temperature changing hands, away from the bowl containing the wine. The bowl itself should be deep and slightly tapered towards the top, as this will trap the perfume of the wine.

A good  wine glass should be a bit larger.  Red wine has more flavour and is also best served at a slightly warmer temperature, which will release more aromas so it will benefit from a larger capacity bowl. The glass should be as thin as possible particularly around the lip of the glass. This will allow the wine to cascade and spread over your tongue and enhance the flavour experience. The glass should be high quality, preferably lead crystal and free from blemish.

When you are ready to drink some wine make sure the glass is clean and free from residual detergent. In fact when you clean the glasses use the detergent very sparingly and wipe dry with a clean lint free cloth. Pour no more than a third of the glass, as this will allow you to swirl the wine around in the glass and release more of the beautiful perfume. Glasses for Champagne and other sparkling wine are a little different because of the bubbles. These glasses should be narrower and longer.

If you want to expand your glass collection make sure that the additional glasses suit the style or variety of wine you enjoy the most. With this in mind shoot for the stars and get the biggest and most impressive glass made for that style. I like lots of different styles of wine but if I had to narrow it down to one wine and one super glass it would have to be Grand Cru Burgundy. The Riedel Company makes a superb glass just for this very purpose.

 

Grant Van Every, Australian wine and food writer, wine consultant, used to be a winemaker, sommelier and judge in various wine competitions etc.

 

该文刊登于《酒典》杂志 2016 年 11 月 刊
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