Decanting Wine
March 3, 2008
How do you go about the process of decanting wine and does this relate to wine aeration? - Cassie in Fairbanks, AK
Cassie, you are right. Decanting wine does help with allowing it to breathe which is known as wine aeration or to aerate wine but the main focus is to actually help with removing the sediment that gets stirred up when you pour a glass. Long ago, before wines were routinely filtered, it was pretty common for wines that were poured from barrels and bottles to contain a fair amount of solid matter which is also known as wine lees.
When you decant wine, the process lets this sediment settle down to the bottom of the decanter and allows the wine to clear which of course affects the over all taste and experience. You can use a proper wine decanter but all you really need is a simple carafe together with a suitable source of light. A small candle will do or even small butane torch will suffice also.
First, remove the entire capsule from around the neck of the bottle. This is important as will you need to have a clear view into the neck of the bottle when you are pouring it into the decanter. This allows you to observe the sediment that is and you should position your light source in a way so that it is shining through the neck from behind.
With a smooth and steady action, pour the wine into the decanter. Don’t rush when decanting, take time to observe what you are doing so you avoid disturbing the sediment in the wine. Being patient allows you to see the arrowhead of this sediment moving into the neck of the bottle. Once you see begin to see this happen you should stop pouring.
If you have done this correctly you should have a full decanter of clear wine, with just half a glass or so of sediment-laden wine remaining. So basically you have accomplished two things being that you have helped clarify the wine while enabling it the wine aeration process to occur. There you go Cassie, enjoy and remember to have a few glasses for me.
What is Port Wine?
February 21, 2008
Wine Virgin I was wondering if you could tell me what is port wine? Is it all wine from Portugal that is what one of my friends says but when I had some port recently it sure seemed to have a bit of a kick. - Matt in Florida
Well Matt your friend’s claim is somewhat grounded in fact but also way off at the same time and that extra kick you mention is something that can get a wine virgin or anyone for that matter into trouble if they are not careful.
You see port is a sweet Portuguese, fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. Port is often served as a dessert wine. Wines in the style of the Portuguese product called port are also produced around the world in several countries-most notably Australia, South Africa, India, Canada and the United States.
Port is produced from grapes like all wines at least initially. The wine is then fortified with much higher alcohol product made from distilled wine (quite often cognac). The goal of this and the effect is to boost the alcohol content. Port wine is stored and aged, often in barrels and stored for quite a long time before being bottled.
I dearly love a good port but you had better not make the virgin mistake of treating port like chardonnay or you just might wake up regretting the night before in more ways then one. Try a small glass of Port after a big meal in place of desert some time especially after a nice steak or chops.