Aerate or Decant

Wine 101: The Basics
1

Do you always aerate and decant or is there ever a time when you should not aerate and only decant to prevent from damaging the wine?

2

It’s hard to generalize, it’s a case by case basis decision.

But in general, older wines may not benefit from long periods exposed to oxygen. You ‘decant’ them, mainly to deal with sediment or cork issues. But be prepared to drink up. Of course, some notable exceptions to this rule include older Barolo/Nebbiolo wines.

3

Hi Taylor
It’s handy that you mention both terms, as you may

  • decant (gently) to leave sediment in the bottle. This is not done for aeration.
  • decant and leave the wine to air for short to extended periods (see the many threads on this subject, where opinions do differ about this)
  • splash decant. This can open up a closed wine, and that very much can include some young whites
    FWIW the vast majority of the time I don’t decant wines. My reasons to decant might be: interested in seeing how it develops in the decanter; previous bottles have benefitted from exposure to air; I’ve trashed the cork trying to get it out, so I’m decanting to remove the cork bits; it’s a wine I know has fine yet bitter tannins. One reason for not decanting more, is that the glass works the same way. As I’m happy with an interesting wine, to sniff for a few minutes, swirl the wine in the glass to see what aromas that release, then maybe 5-10 minutes later actually have a taste, I’m happy that I find it easier to read the changes in the wine up close in the glass.

If wanting to dig deep into this, Jamie Goode is worth a read, as his scientific background can be a nice counterpoint to some of our more belief-based thoughts… not that he can’t also be opinionated, provocative and at times (IMO) wrong, but it’s often an interesting perspective.

Regards
Ian

4

I agree with Ian.

I’m more of a fan of pouring a generous taster pour and then think about if it needs a decant. Aerating with one of those specialized pourers robs you of the chance to try the wine from the bottle unless you pour a glass first. I would look into just a regular wine carafe. A good amount of oxygen is introduced into the wine just from the act of pouring. Pouring the wine into another vessel even at a gentle angle will expose the surface of the wine to a good amount. This is why a sample pour is necessary IMO and a way to test of the wine is even worth the effort of decanting (corked, tired tasting, oxidized).

1 Like
5

I hadn’t even considered ‘aerate’ might be a term related to using those awful gadgety things. Yeah, don’t do that.

6

I typically use a nuance wine finer; I’m not really sure it does much for aeration, although perhaps it will help bottles open up a little faster than normal, but it’s nice for filtering out coarse tannins and any pieces of cork, and makes a good pourer. I’m not really sure why people on here are averse to aerators, though, for wines that could benefit from them.

7

I use an aerator for young wines esp 1er and GC wines that I’m tasting early because it’s a new producer or vintage. I pour a glass and then when I find it tight as a drum I pour it through an aerator into the decanter and then usually back into the bottle a few minutes later. The agitation does way more to open up those young wines than air time.