The Auswine Forum

Some advice on decanting would be appreciated. I have found that I enjoy my 2002 shiraz decanted at least an hour. The 2003s dont seem to need as much decanting. My 1998s dont seem to need it. So is there a rule of thumb on how old and what vintages need decanting. It would be helpful to me if someone could tell me how they stack up today. Thanks

The decanting topic got done to death a while back:
http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.p ... =decanting
http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.p ... =decanting

I don't remember any particular conclusion (Mike/KMP will probably summarise ), but here is what I do:

Older reds with sediment are decanted within an hour or so of drinking, it depends more on the likelihood of crust than age for those less than about 8 yo, some 98's and 96's I'll decant, some I won't bother, older than that I nearly always decant soon before drinking.

For younger reds it depends on the particular wine, not just the vintage. If I'm going to drink a bottle of a big, possibly closed/reticent young shiraz or cabernet to try to assess it for purchase/cellaring I'll usually give it a vigorous decant an hour or two before the meal/tasting and see how it develops from there, often leave some in a half-bottle to the next day.

I seldom decant any wine more than 2-3 hours before consuming, if a young red is still reticent or a little stinky after an hour or so I will pour it quickly into another decanter and/or give it a good shake to aerate a bit more.

If I'm taking wine to a restaurant, wherever possible I double-decant just before leaving, to check for faults/suitability of the wine as well as avoiding the sediment.

On my last visit to Rockford in May (with Ric and John D), Ian the Stonewall CD manager decanted a bottle of 91 BP Shiraz by up-ending it into a decanter and then pouring it back into the rinsed bottle through a fine metal mesh - an example of applying the theory that removing all the sediment removes some of the flavour/character of a wine too. The wine did show pretty well after this treatment, we took the remainder to dinner about 6-7 hours later as well and it was in fine form. See here for details in TORB's tour diary: http://www.torbwine.com/pf/SA%202005%20 ... er%204.htm

Yes, I'd like to provide a very lengthy summary of the (non-anecdotal) data that exists on the positive aspects of decanting Shiraz.
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OK, With that finished, we can get on to drinking some wine.

Mike

PS But don't go away because this topic has not died, its just resting!

KMP wrote:Yes, I'd like to provide a very lengthy summary of the (non-anecdotal) data that exists on the positive aspects of decanting Shiraz.

PS But don't go away because this topic has not died, its just resting!

Nah, I just heard the flatline tone coming from the ICU.

I'll just have to dig into more of my 40 years worth of anecdotes.