After finding out what a decanter was for, you chose the one that best suited you based on your drinking habits. Now you’ll have to use this decanter! But how do you use a wine decanter? And if you haven’t yet taken the plunge, we’ll explain how to do it without!
How long to decant the wine?
To know how much time in advance you will need to decant your wine, there are several elements to consider:
- The type of wine – Red wines will need more time than white wines for their aromas to evolve. Natural wines will also need a longer aeration time.
- The age of the wine – A young wine, whether red, white or sparkling, will need more time to open, unlike an old wine which will need to avoid too much contact with the air.
- The ageing potential – In addition to the age of the wine, its ageing potential will be an indicator of the required aeration time. Some wines have been elaborated by the winegrower to be consumed young, others benefit from aging before drinking.
- In any case, taste your wine before decanting it. If it is closed, it will benefit from a longer aeration time.
- Unless you know your wine well, or have been informed by a wine specialist, or even by the winemaker, it is very difficult to determine the decanting time required for a wine. Moreover, you must be careful not to aerate it too much. Because after reaching its optimal aeration, meaning the moment when all the aromas have evolved, these aromas decline and it is not possible to go back.
- To know how long to aerate your wine accurately, you can use the Aveine application. With a simple scan of the label, it recommends the optimal aeration time for the wine you are going to taste. If, in addition, you don’t have the time (or patience) to wait for the indicated time, the Aveine connected aerator allows you to aerate all wines precisely and instantly.
How to decant wine without a decanter?
You don’t want to use your wine decanter? Or you just don’t have one? Don’t panic. To decant a wine without a decanter, make sure you pour the contents of the bottle gently into another container, if possible with an opening that is not too wide so that the wine doesn’t come into too much contact with the air. Proceed delicately so that the deposits remain in the bottle. Once the bottle has been emptied, rinse it and put the wine back in its original bottle (gently). That’s it.
Otherwise, there are objects that can decant the wine without a decanter.
How to aerate wine without a carafe?
To aerate wine without a decanter, several options are available. You can uncork the bottle (very much) in advance, and use another container such as a water jug. But the effect will be less impressive on the table.
You can simply leave your bottle open, but you will have to be very patient! Otherwise, you can “shoulder” the wine, i.e. pour a little wine so that the level drops to the shoulder of the bottle, or by serving it in a glass. The contact surface between the air and the wine will be a little larger than the neck. But it will take much more time than in a decanter.
You can also use wine aerators: there are many on the market. Some look like faucets, others require you to turn the bottle upside down, in short, not always the most beautiful effect at the table! Above all, all the wine aerators on the market, whether they are manual or connected, have a mechanism that allows you to aerate the wine but without precision. All but one! It is obviously the Aveine connected aerator which allows to aerate precisely and instantly all wines. Because all wines are different and to reveal all their aromas, they must be treated differently.
Now you know just about everything there is to know about decanters!
