LeDomduVin: A man in black decanting Château Pontet Canet 2010

Men in black

A man in black decanting Château Pontet Canet 2010

When it comes to preparing wine for clients or guests, decanting becomes a crucial, needed step of the preparation when a wine is too young, too tight, or presents lots of sediments due to its age. 

For Burgundy, for example, I don't usually decant the reds (it might have happened but only on rare occasions), as Pinot Noir-based wines open up quite easily and rapidly in the bottle, and thus do not require decanting, unless really tight.  

However, I love decanting white burgundy, especially if they are young to give them a boost and allow them to open up faster. Old burgundy whites also deserve to be decanted in most cases.  

For Bordeaux, both young and old need to be decanted in my opinion. The ones in the middle with a certain maturity, not necessarily too young or too old, can just be opened, tasted, and left open, without decanting.  However, if too tight, too young, or too old, and, more importantly, if full of sediments, then decanting is a must.  

For other regions and appellations, it depends on the wine, the grape variety, the strength, the alcohol content, the vintage, and many other factors.  

For example, I do not usually decant Loire valley Red, yet, some Chinon and even some Saumur Champigny deserve to be decanted, for the Cabernet Franc to fully express itself. 

In the meantime, I like to decant full and strong wines from the Southern Rhone, Rioja, Ribera del Duero, California, Barossa, etc... as they usually need to be tamed down a little to be better appreciated. 

I must say I love decanting and I'm pretty good at it. The key is to remain calm, concentrated, and focused. And after doing it and repeating the same gests for the past 30+ years, I'm like a Decanting Master now.  It is definitely one of my specialties and all the videos I posted on YouTube and other Social Media can attest to the quality of my decanting skills.  

Santé! Cheers!

Dom 

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