There are three, nonnegotiable things every wine drinker needs. First, uh, wine. Second, a corkscrew to open aforementioned wine. Third—I’m sorry, but not the wine glass charms you bought on something I call Drunk Etsy— a decanter, because you need to be decanting wines. Here’s why and how.
Hold up—what is decanting exactly?
Decanting is when you pour of a bottle of wine into another vessel, ideally a decanter but a blender, pitcher, or hell, an old glass vase will do.
And why do I need to decant wines?
Imagine sitting in the smallest seat, in the very back of coach, on the longest flight of your life. Your seat doesn’t recline, your knees are permanently wedged against old copies of Sky Mall, and you can’t shake the man next to you out of his Ambien-induced unconsciousness to take a piss. Even when you finally land, get to fully extend all your limbs, and go pee, you still feel awful and annoyed and need a good six hours stretched on the couch in your underwear to return to normal.
Same thing with some wines. They’ve been literally bottled up for months—maybe years, decades even!—making their flavors tight, edgy, and not at all enjoyable. Just like you straight off the plane, they taste crumpled, tense, and bitter. They need some air and some space! Decanting these wines aerates them and lets them to breath, smoothing out bolder characteristics and flavors and allowing volatile compounds to blow off.
How do I know which wines need to be decanted?
Wine that has been aged for a long period of time, like more than ten years, should be decanted, not only to let its flavors open and relax but also to separate sediment. Sediment in aged bottles is caused by molecules combining with tannins over time. It is totally normal and nothing to worry about. That being said, you don’t want a mouth full of it, so decant.
Secondly, decant any wine you feel needs it. Yes, you. Personally. If a wine tastes unbalanced or straight up not good to you, throw it in a decanter. Does it taste too acidic, too tannic, or too high in alcohol? Throw it in a decanter! Does it smell of volatile acidity, like nail polish remover or balsamic vinegar? Or maybe it smells reduced, like rotten eggs or burnt rubber? Throw it in a decanter! Not sure what it is but not digging it? Decant that sh*t.
Even if it’s not a red wine. Contrary to popular wine lore, decanting isn’t just for reds—whites and rosés can also benefit from being decanted, especially natural wines that are more susceptible to volatile acidity and reduction.
How long do I decant it for?
This is the tricky part. There’s no exact formula; some wines take less time to decant than others. I say taste it after 30 minutes, and if it still tastes off, give it another 30.
But even an hour may not be long enough. A few weeks ago, I opened a badass rosato that I’d had the week before in Italy and fell in love with. But the bottle I had at home of the exact same rosato tasted weird. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, so I put it in a decanter in the fridge. Two-and-a-half hours later, it was drinking beautifully.
As with most things with wine, decanting comes down to your instinct—does it taste good to you? Drink it!—and patience. Trust your taste buds.
*Marissa A. Ross is *Bon Appétit’s wine editor and author of Wine. All the Time.: The Casual Guide to Confident Drinking.