I’m hearing increasing talk about decanting young, intense, full bodied, vintage champagne and until recently I thought it sounded like heresy. I had always thought that the bubbles were sacred and even swirling champagne in a glass was taboo.
I keep reading and hearing opinions that are contrary, especially recently. I have yet to do any research on the subject and I’m wondering if anyone has any experiences they’d like to share.
I hear that Freemott isn’t afraid to put young wines in a blender to “age” them a bit.
I’ve done it and used to drink Champagne with a winemaker that loved to decant Champagne and drink Champagne out of standard white wine glass v. Champagne flutes.
For his palate/experience, he felt it allowed the bubbles to blow off a bit and the wine to open up a bit more…probably providing something closer to a still wine experience.
I, on the other hand, love just opening a bottle, drinking out of CHampagne flute and enjoying the bubbles. That’s part of the experience to me…
I’ve done it, and I think it helps quite a bit. Jesse Rodriguez (former head somm at TFL, currently in SD) and I discussed decanting a young krug for dinner and had ultimately set on decanting it for roughly 20 minutes. I really think it did a world of good! Like Tony said, it allows the bubbles to blow off a bit and the wine opens up more. As long as you don’t decant for too long, you’ll still get quite a few bubbles (if that’s what you’re looking for)
Can’t you just copy my posts from elsewhere Ricca?
I think it can help though I’ve never done it. What I usually do is open it and leave it on the counter for a while to get some chill off of it and let air get in. Champagne flutes also should be crushed up into a fine powder and removed from your memory. It’s fine wine and it should be treated as such. Treating it like vodka 7-Up shooters is one of the current crimes against humanity though I can’t get the Hague to hear my case yet.
I agree with Cris’ diatribe on flutes, but actually recently I had the opportunity to try both, and preferred the flutes for this one particular Champagne. Normally I drink from a Bordeaux or Chardonnay glass, but in this case, where the nose was the most expressive part of the wine, the glass with a smaller opening was the clear winner.
I de-alc tequila and cognac lately as well…
But you need inner glass space to gather up the nose. The majority of flutes don’t have that. That’s my biggest issue with them.
The ones I have actually have a pretty good bulbous shape - not quite like the Les Imployables (sp?) but far more than a standard cylindrical flute - they have a bowl that comes to a smaller opening.
Muy bueno. Some of them are not exactly flutes which is what it sounds like you have.
I have done it (well, had it done). It was a 2000 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee. I’m not sure if this helped or not, as this was the first and only time that I have had the wine. It was decanted into a Riedel Magnum Sommelier Decanter and then poured into white Riedel Vintage Sommelier Flutes.
I enjoyed this bottling and would do the decant again.
-Side note - This was at Eleven Madison Park in NYC.
A tour through Champagne back in 2003 showed me the wisdom of decanting champagne… the really great champagnes. They just open up beautifully… on the issue of glassware, I’m still using Riedel Vinum Cuvee Presitge Flutes but could easily see Montrachet or even burg stems working well for champagne. there are many ways to enjoy wine, and while we are first led to what Riedel may say, for better or worse, trying the same wine in different glasses is mind blowing. I’m now doing aged white rhones in my sommelier burgundy glasses for instance…
For young champagnes it can make a big difference. I’ve served blind decanted champagnes next to undecanted and almost always, the decanted bottle is preferred.
In regard to stems…this past Satuday night, I opened a bottle of N.V. Selosse Cuvee Substance and used the Schott Zwiesel Pure Cabernet Glasses. Worked beautifully.
For younger champagne I generally use Riedel or Speigelau White Burg glasses - occasionally Speigelau Red Bordeaux glasses or Zalto Champagne glasses.
I too have been known to use a nice burg glass for champagnes with great success…
I sent an email out to Hugh Davies at Schramsberg asking his opinion of the practice and drew this reply:
" I have decanted bottles of sparkling wines on a couple of
occasions. If you are to decant a bottle of sparkling, I would advise
doing it with a very cold bottle. The cold temperature will help trap
the CO2 gas in the wine. My impression is that decanting a sparkling
bottle can open it up a bit, but the wines can just as well evolve
beautifully while sitting in the glass. Glassware can have a
significant influence."
Seems like something I need to start doing with bottles that are appropriate.
While I agree with him that the wine can open up in the glass, the difference with decanting it is that you can maintain the temperature in the decanter by keeping it on ice. After two hours in a glass, the champagne will be room temperature. I don’t mind finishing a glass of champagne at room temperature, but I don’t like to start to drink one that warm.
So by decanting a young champagne and keeping on ice, you can then let it further evolve and warm after you pour it into the glass and you get the best of both worlds.
I’ve done it many times as well as simply revisiting a wine after several hours of air. It works. I’ve been told that it’s a fairly common practice in Champagne to pour a glass at the beginning of the meal to taste at the end of the meal. I’ve had positive results with this even with a very old Champagne. One of the best Champagne experiences I’ve had to date was about 2 years ago with a 1982 Dom Perignon. The wine was absolutely singing at the 4 hour mark. That’s not just me, that’s 3 others at a table of 12 that were astute enough to save a glass for the end of the meal.
fwiw.