Decanters might not seem like an important wine accessory, but it actually is. If you’re a wine enthusiast or a complete beginner, you should know that drinking a decanted wine offers a whole different experience.
A decanter improves your wine-drinking experience, especially for red wines. In this article, we’ll explain more about why you need one and how to choose the right wine decanter.
Why Do You Need a Decanter
A decanter is a container which you can pour your wine into and let the liquid undergo the decantation process. While they’re mostly used for red wines, decanters can also be used for other liquors like cognac, whisky, scotch, and bourbon.
Here are two main reasons why you need one:
Separate and Remove Any Sediment
Sediments collect as wine ages. If you have older red wines in your collection, they probably contain sediments. Although sediment isn’t harmful to the drinker, it can affect the aroma and taste of your wines. Decanting your wines helps you avoid having that sediment pour into your drink and leave it instead in the bottle.
When decanted, the sediment sinks into the bottom of the container so you’re just getting the liquid with every sip from your wine glass. This separation softens your wine, improving its clarity, and reducing the overall bitterness.
Aeration of Wine
Wines are trapped and kept in their bottles for a long time before you even open them. When you use decanters, you expose the wine to air before you drink which helps bring out its full flavor. Once the trapped wine is in the container, the aeration and oxidation process begins.
The oxidation smoothen the tannins in the wine and remove any bitterness in it, revealing new aromas and taste that you can enjoy in every glass.
How to Choose the Right Decanter
Although it’s a simple item, there are still many things you need to consider when choosing the right wine decanter for you. Here are some of the most important factors you need to take into account:
Size
The size of wine decanters varies depending on how much wine they can hold. Most are sized to fit one wine bottle but you can find larger ones that can hold more than one bottle and smaller ones that can only fit a few glasses at a time.
Depending on how much wine you want to decant based on how many people will be drinking, you can choose from these sizes:
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Small Wine Decanters: Perfect for decanting a glass or two and for people who don’t want to leave their wine sitting in the decanter for too long.
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Medium Wine Decanters: This is the standard size and can decant one standard bottle. This is ideal for most buyers since it would be a practical option; not too big but not too small.
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Large Wine Decanters: This is handy if you need to decant more than one wine bottle. It’s ideal if you’re hosting a lot of people at once, like at a small dinner party or gathering. But, keep in mind that the wine might not be able to breathe as effectively if there is too much liquid in the decanter.
Material
Wine decanters are made of either glass or crystal. This is because other materials may add some unwanted flavor to the wine when used. Here are some of the differences between a standard glass and a crystal wine decanter:
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Standard Glass Decanter: It has thicker walls and comes in simple and classic shapes, making them dishwasher safe. If you prefer a more intricate glass decanter, make sure that it’s made of borosilicate glass. Borosilicate, compared to other types of glass, is more resistant to thermal shock which allows it to be shaped in more ways.
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Crystal Decanter: This is more high-quality and very durable. Crystal is mostly used for larger and more artistic and intricate decanters. Keep in mind that some crystal wine decanters may also contain small amounts of lead, which aren’t dangerous as long your wine isn’t kept in the decanter for a long time. To be safe, choose a lead-free crystal material if you want a crystal decanter.
Shape
Decanters come in a variety of shapes with bell and U as the most common ones. When deciding on the shape, always consider the surface area your wine needs, which will influence how much and adequately your wine can breathe. There are many designs made to spread out the wine for proper aeration.
Additionally, consider how easy it would be to pour wine using the decanter. You wouldn’t want to make a mess or waste your wine. Choose a decanter that has a good grip that will feel comfortable when pouring.
Lastly, you should also consider the shape when deciding if you like the look of the decanter. Most designs of decanters are based on their shapes so keep this in mind.
Wine Type and Age
Although you can decant any type of wine in any decanter, you should know that some decanters are made specifically for certain types of wine. There are those made and marketed for decanting syrah, cabernet, merlot, and more. If this is important to you, it’s best to look for a decanter specifically designed for the type of wine you have or like to decant.
The age of wines influences how easily they can be decanted. Aged red wines need more complicated decantation than younger ones. If you’re more worried about sediment than aeration, consider getting thin-necked ones since it will be easier to pour with one. It also provides less surface area that allows your wine to maintain a close flavor like the one it originally had in the wine bottle.
Extra Features
Here are some extra decanter features that might be beneficial to consider:
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Dishwasher Safe: This will make cleaning easier since you can just put it in the dishwasher.
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Filter: If you love aged wines and are worried about the sediment, a wine decanter with a filter or strainer attached works best. This will catch the sediment easily and not let it get into your glass.
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Stopper: Wines can go rancid when left exposed to air for too long. If you leave your wine in a decanter overnight without a stopper, expect the wine to go bad after at least 12 hours. You can avoid this by using a stopper or cork, especially if you won’t finish all the content in one sitting. It will allow your decanted wine to last longer.
Conclusion
A wine decanter is extremely important and useful in getting the best flavors of your wines before drinking it. When choosing, prioritize getting a decanter made of glass or lead-free crystal and with a size and shape that can make decanting a certain amount of wine easy.
If you’re ready and interested in looking through some options, we encourage you to check out our high-quality decanter collection. We offer a wide selection of wine decanters you can choose from.