Forget those musty images of expensive old Bordeaux drizzling into crystal by candlelight — decanter sales have quadrupled in the last year (according to the Riedel crystal company), and not because of a glut of old red wine full of sediment that needs to be left behind. Wine lovers are discovering the second reason to decant a wine: It'll taste better.
Rob Davis, longtime winemaker for Sonoma County's Jordan Winery, gives it some drama: "Wines, especially red wines, live a reclusive life in the bottle. They're still, isolated in a small, dark room. At that epic moment when the seal is removed from the bottle, all the aroma, bouquet, and flavors — the true personality of the wine — can start to sing."
A splash through the air, then a period of time with a lot of surface area exposed, mellows rough tannins and releases tight aromas in a big, young red wine. And we're drinking more of these than ever.It doesn't matter what you pour the wine into. Davis claims the same benefits come from "fine crystal or a clean mayonnaise jar." But the more tannic the red, the more exposure to air it can handle. Some decanters are designed especially to direct the wine over the inside surface; for others, you can accomplish this by just pouring against the side. (Pour more gently with delicate older wines; too much oxygen and they'll breathe their last.)
Pull that gift decanter out of the closet. You can use the space for more wine.
