Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Decanting

Few subjects arose more ire among wine geeks that the question "to decant or not?" The Wine Spectator offers up an article on the subject that reminds me of Harry Truman's quest for a one handed economist. For what it's worth, here's my take: I only decant wines that have thrown substantial sediment. If the wine has thrown a lot of sediment, I stand it upright in my cellar for a few days to let the sediment settle to the bottom. I then decant the wine into a clean decanter until the bulk of the sediment begins to show through the neck (I stand a bright flashlight under the bottle as I'm pouring). If there's more than about a half-inch of liquid left at the bottom of the bottle, I put an unbleached coffee filter in a kitchen funnel and pour the remaining liquid through it into a separate container.