If I bring a good Cabernet, at its peak, to a dinner party where the host does not have a decanter, what's the best way to open the wine? Should I just uncork it, say, 30 minutes before drinking? Or should I go ahead and pour it and let it open in the glasses? Either? Neither?
If there's much sediment, as there often is with a mature Cab, it needs to be decanted, and decanted before travelling with it. If it's not beyond optimal drinking, decant it at home after having the bottle standing upright and untouched for several days to a month. If you see there's very little sediment by holding the bottle up to a light, you decant it at the site of the dinner. Either bring a decanter with you or ask the host for any clean dry glass container. Even a clean dry quart mayonnaise jar will do. If the wine is very old and there is much sediment, decanting it in advance could have it fading by the time it is poured for dinner. In that case, choose another wine. That's why God gave us wine cellars.
Just one more sip.
Posts: 22237 | Location: NY | Registered: Oct 18, 2001
If in a pinch, and sediment is not an issue, doesn't simply pouring out a glass speed the process of letting the wine open up?
You pour a glass and let the bottle breathe un-decanted, and it is supposed to expidite the oxidation of the entire bottle - simply as a ratio of surface area to air contact when pouring.
----------------------------- Up to the age of forty eating is beneficial. After forty, wine. The Talmud, 200BC
Posts: 429 | Location: NJ | Registered: Nov 22, 2006
Originally posted by CaliCab: If in a pinch, and sediment is not an issue, doesn't simply pouring out a glass speed the process of letting the wine open up?
You pour a glass and let the bottle breathe un-decanted, and it is supposed to expidite the oxidation of the entire bottle - simply as a ratio of surface area to air contact when pouring.
The issue with decanting for aeration purposes is surface area of wine in contact with air. Simply opening a bottle or leaving wine in bottle undecanted, exposes the wine to much less air than splash decanting or using a wide base decanter.
Yes, leaving it in the glass and swirling is effective, but only for the wine in the glass, not what's left in the bottle.
-------------------- "One may dislike carrots, spinach, beetroot, or the skin on hot milk. But not wine. It is like hating the air that one breathes, since each is equally indispensable."
Marcel Ayme`
Posts: 6195 | Location: The Left Coast | Registered: Dec 01, 2001
Here's the perfect method of opening a cab: you just send it to me and I'll take care of it for you...don't you worrry about a thing.! Problem solved...although you may have a new problem.
Posts: 33 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: Jan 23, 2007
