Decanting Champagne?

So I have just begun to dive into the wonderful world of fine Champagne, but I am confused about the ideal way to maximize the drinking experience.

In the past, I would pour a glass and then put a stopper on it. But after reading more about allowing the wine to breathe, I stopped doing that.

I know that everyone drinks their bubbly differently, but thoughts on pouring a nice champagne into a decanter and keeping it in a icy cold bucket, to allow it some airtime while also maintaining a chilled temp?

And I know that different bottles may require different serving options, based on style of producer, age of wine, etc, but any generally accepted methods to share? An admitted Newbie to champs here, so be easy…

95% of the time I just pour a glass, swirl it around before each sip, and don’t refresh the glass until it is empty so that I can full watch its evolution through the bottle. At some point, I won’t keep the bottle on ice anymore. Like any good white, sometimes you don’t want to serve it too cold to taste all the flavors.

There are some champagnes I have decanted before like Bouchard. I think more champagne could benefit from being decanted, but I rarely do it. Maybe I’m too afraid of losing the bubbles or something.

I was thinking it was nonsense to decant Champagne but Google is your friend and I am wrong:

I think it can often help younger vintage Champange - decanting helped a 2014 Ulysse Colin BdN a lot this past holiday season. I don’t like using a super wide bottom decanter - something more like a water pitcher works best for me. But even in a ship decanter you won’t lose nearly as much CO2 as you might think, and the trade off is usually worth whatever fizz you might lose.

(edit - changed BdB to BdN)

At the end of the day, I guess it makes sense. I decant all of my other wines, so why not champs.

On another note, that Championship game was a good one…

People come into the belief that wine that is Champagne needs to be treated more preciously than wine that is not Champagne. It’s just wine with bubbles.

If you are drinking the whole bottle the night you open it then there is little to worry about decanting Champagne as long as it’s not super mature. Bubbles created naturally in bottle tend to stick around a lot longer than people think they will. I think people learn from when they were young, drinking gas injected sparkling wine where the bubbles disappear in a a few hours that they need to protect the bubbles with stoppers and treat the wine carefully. Champagne bubbles in youngish wines don’t fade out like that.

I split bottles over two nights fairly often. I’ve never run into Champagne bubbles fading much at all if any.

Decant those tough young vintage wines with your chest out.

Randy- better article than I was expecting- thanks,interesting read.

Many previous threads on this.

Just listened to an episode with Marc Colin on I’ll Drink to That where the question came up and the producer answers this directly for his wines. He agrees it is fine…I too am a little paranoid, thinking the bubbles will disperse faster. Might be a good blind tasting experiment, but how do you get those bubbles back in the bottle?

I would never decant a bottle of Champagne, but my needs are often different then simply enjoying the wine. I need to be able to judge the quality of the mousse, as it is one of the separating factors between merely good and outstanding Champagne. It often seems that the textural quality and refinement of the mousse may be the hardest thing to master for the winegrower or maison. It is frequently the biggest weakness in some smaller growers’ bottlings, which are otherwise deep, complex and compelling, but with overtly coarse bubbles. To my mind, the bubbles in Champagne are one of its major attractions, when done beautifully, so I tend to steer clear of any approach to the wine that minimizes this aspect of the drinking experience. For the same reason, I dislike drinking Champagne in white wine glasses (abhor it being served in Burgundy baloons) and prefer a properly deep and wide flute, such as the one that Riedel makes specifically for Krug, as this maintains the mousse to utmost advantage and still allows plenty of air surface for proper aromatic blossoming of the bouquet. I would not stop anyone from drinking their bubbly as they prefer, but will often tote along my Krug flute if I am going to have to seriously evaluate the Champagne to be served.

For the most part without going into details (because I’m too lazy right now), I decant vintage champagnes for 30mins to 60mins. As someone mentioned above, the bubbles in champagnes lasts much longer than most people think.

Exactly this. I’ll sometimes decant champagne to blow off some of the gas that it has so that I can better smell the wine. I don’t drink anywhere near enough old(er) champagne to worry about losing bubbles, so I’ll happily decant when I feel like it will help

Thanks all for your thoughts, much appreciated…

I went to a Pol Roger tasting last night and the rep and host said that decanting would make the most sense for demi-sec and even barrel aged Champagnes like Krug, but might be less appropriate for fresher/crisper Champagne styles like you’d see with Pol Roger NV.

+1

John,
I love seeing you posts here, but dammit, not another wine glass I feel compelled to try!!!

Cheers,
Warren

I almost always prefer Champagne after it’s had time to breathe but whenever I decide to try decanting I lose my nerve at the last minute and don’t go through it.

FWIW Peter Liem wrote a short piece opposing the practice in his book on Champagne. Not sure he convinced me but he’s had a lot more Champagne than I have.

Warren, I use an universal glass and I think it’s more than sufficient.

I always like Champagne more after the bottle’s been open for a while; I’ve only decanted once or twice but don’t object to the practice… I’m just too lazy or unorganized to carry it out. I do try to open the bottle ahead of time, though; it might not affect the wine much but it does calm down the initial effervescence, which is a plus IMO.

I treasure the bubbles, so do not decant. I’ve tried it in the past.

A very very early experience taught me a lot.
40+ years we had New Year’s Eve dinner at Jean-Pierre restaurant in Washington, D.C. with two other couples. Our reservation was for 7PM for a multi-course dinner and we were staying until midnight. I ordered a bottle of Korbel to start (hold the brickbats … in those days it was probably 100% Russian River Valley) and a bottle of Laurent-Perrier for midnight. The waiter (the word ‘sommelier’ had not yet been invented in the U.S.) arrived with the two bubblies. First, he gently popped the Laurent-Perrier and put it in an ice bucket. Then he popped and poured the Korbel. I was sure the Laurent-Perrier would be dead at midnight. It was incredible, with intense mousse fully intact. It only got better as it warmed and softened from 12 to ~12:45.

Air, yes. Decant, no. YMMV.

Dan Kravitz