When should you decant or carafe a wine?

It is often wise to decant an old red wine. This prevents sediment that has accumulated in the bottle over the years from being poured into your glass. For young wines that are not yet ready to drink, it may be wise to decant them before pouring them. By exposing such a young wine to oxygen, it becomes more pleasant. Below we explain decanting and decanting.

Sometimes you come across a bottle that has probably been lying under a thick layer of dust somewhere in your wine cellar for a long time and should now be ready to drink. You will see a bit of sludge along the entire length of the bottle. Don't worry, it's a harmless speck that does nothing to detract from your wine. But when you pour the wine into your glass, you want a clear, sparkling liquid. No unsightly sludge in the glass or things in your mouth. This is the moment to get the decanter out.

Sediment in the bottle is not a 'fault in the wine'. Nor has the winemaker made a blunder during the clarification and filtering. This sediment is a natural product that forms during the aging process of a wine, especially in red wines.

What distinguishes red wines from white wines is the amount of polyphenols. Polyphenols is the collective name for the colouring agents (anthocyanins) and tannins in a wine. During the maturation of a wine, the molecules of the colouring agents and tannins react with each other; they form a bond with each other. This process of polymerisation makes the molecules larger, more stable and eventually precipitate in the bottle. A harmless sludge.

To separate the sediment from the wine, pour the wine very carefully into a decanter before serving. These are generally tall, narrow carafes. It is best to pour against the light so that you can keep an eye on the sediment. For example, you can hold the neck of the carafe above a candle. As soon as the sludge approaches the neck, you are done.

When should you decant a wine?

Decanting a wine serves a different purpose. It provides young wine with oxygen in particular. This is especially recommended for young red wines that are not yet ready to drink. A carafe, unlike a decanter, is wide so that the wine can move freely and comes into contact with plenty of oxygen.

This process allows any hint of reduction by sulphite in the bottle to escape and ‘opens’ wines, both red and white. The full range of aromas is released and the intensity of the wine increases. The aromas in an old wine could be too vulnerable for a good waltz. But it is worth a try, but first in a large glass.