We plan to take a '90 Beaucastel to a restaurant tonight. There will not be time for a 1 or 2 hour decant prior to serving at the restaurant. Should I pull the cork early in the day and allow the wine to slow ox for several hours before heading out to the restaurant?
How do you guys usually handle a situation like this?
The 90 Beaucastel won’t need an extended decanting in terms of aeration, although depending on sediment you might want to decant at the restaurant. Check the sediment levels in the bottom of the bottle.
The main reason to pull the cork earlier in the day is to sniff to make sure the wine is sound, IMHO. Otherwise, a short decant at the restaurant or 15 minutes or so of aeration in the glass should be more than OK.
Bruce
Some places won’t let you bring an open wine. If they do, I would lightly decant it and if it’s good put it back in the bottle. Next to the 81 my favorite Beaucastel.
Just had this one about 5 weeks ago. Give it a quick decant at the table for fine sediment and you’ll be good to go.
Great wine and in a beautiful spot.
We had a 1990 CNDP last night and despite being stood up for 3 days, and being poured carefully at home, there was massive amounts of sediment. Last glass was cloudy.
Might be worth requesting they decant it for you, and forsake that last ounce.
Decanting for fine sediment after jostling this bottle on the way to the restaurant won’t be very effective. I’d want to decant it at home and pour it back into the cleaned bottle.
+1. If you are concerned with it being open, either remove the cork with an ah-so and reinsert fully into the bottle, or if the cork breaks, just use any cork, jammed all the way in.
Cory, I just drank this wine last week—you are in for a treat. It was gorgeous, with a complex nose I can still vividly recall.
I don’t think you need significant aeration at all. In fact, I would wait to open the bottle until you get to the restaurant. Once there, you can decant for sediment, but this isn’t Nebbiolo. Note, however, the corks on these bottles are often in poor shape.
Cheers! I hope your bottle shows beautifully.
Y’all giving your wines the Mollydooker shake on the way to the restaurant?
I agree with Chuck. One of my all-time favourite Rhones. I drank through a complete case that I bought on release. I hope it shows well for you.
Thanks for the input, guys. Greatly appreciated!
This is a fantastic wine. Doesn’t need much air in my opinion. Had my last bottle of this a few months ago and was really nice.
Even if you’re as careful with a bottle as possible, you’re definitely going to stir up any fine sediment, and it takes a long time (weeks) to settle enough that the wine can be decanted off of it.