Decanting and chilling

If you want to do a several hour decant, how does one bring the temperature back down?

I put the wine back in the cellar. What do you do.

dry ice

1 Like

I donā€™t have a cellar. I have a wine fridge. I decant and then put the decanter in the fridge for a bit. Donā€™t know if that is bad/wrong.

Decant. Pour back in bottle. Put bottle in fridge for 15-45 min depending on how chilled I want it.

1 Like

Depending on how long I need to decant Iā€™ve been known to use those flexible reusable ice packs on the outside of the decanterā€¦and just keep it on a tray for no drip of condensation/water

I have 2 fridges for wine but no place to stand up a decanter as they are typical Subzero and Eurocaves with just rolling shelves fully stackedā€¦so either pour back in bottle/into fridge as suggested or use ice packs on the side of the decanter

Depending on how cold you want it, I find it easier to put it on the counter for the decant and then 30 min before pouring, put it in the fridge to chill down. But my wine fridges have an upper section thatā€™s open, so I can fit a decanter in there.

1 Like

Nothing wrong with that, time it depending on the ā€˜fridge temperature and what youā€™re aiming for.

I probably do it wrong, but my rule of thumbs is simple (after decanting):

  • white wine goes to fridge for 30 mins before serving
  • red wine comes from fridge 30 mins before serving

iā€™ll decant and put the decanter in the fridge or using a funnel pour it back into the bottle and chill

I think you have that backwardsā€¦

That what happens when I type faster than think! Thanks for catching this.
Yes, red wine are chilling 30 minutes in the fridge, while I love whites colder, so I store opened bottles in fridge and take them out only before serving. But to be honest, most of whites I usually drink do not require decanting at all. So I simply open the bottle, pour something and put opened bottle in fridge.

My preferred wine is Cabernet Sauvignon, which benefits from decanting for 1.5-2 hours. Not good for temperature. Therefore, I typically put the decanter in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving to get it down to about 63 degrees F. Another method is using a chilling stick ordered from Amazon, find it by searching for ā€œwine bottle chilling stickā€, it costs about $10. Moreover, if you are very particular about temperature, Amazon has ā€œHorizontal Stick-On Thermometer Strip, Digital Temperature Display for Fermenting, Brewing, Wine, Beerā€, a 10-pack for $10. I stick it on the side of the decanter and it works like a charm, and reusable. Hope this helps.

Decant. Rinse bottle . Pour back in bottle. Put bottle in fridge for 15-45 min depending on how chilled I want it.

FIFY. :grinning:

1 Like

At the risk of thread drift, what are peoplesā€™ practices on decanting white wines? I do this for young quality whites eg Chablis when they are being drunk right away to help them open up. Have had some interesting ā€œdiscussionsā€ with sommeliers about this, and some restaurants that do it without asking.

Whites tend to be a bit more situational for me. If it is a bit reductive or tastes a bit closed up Iā€™ll carafe them but I think itā€™s more intuition than science.

Good catch! I do indeed do it that way