The Auswine Forum

Got a special bottle to open? Don't want to give it too much or too little air? Then bring your questions here and tap into the vast knowledge of the Auswine Forum. Hurrah!

First up...

We've got a bottle of Seppelts St Peter's Shiraz 2012. We've never had this wine before, and yes I know it's a tad on the young side, but how long would you decant this before drinking?

Many thanks,

Travis.

Probably overnight. I can't imagine this would go downhill by day 2

Whilst it is ridiculously young, I would stand it up the day before then pull the cork around 9am in the morning and let it breath all day.

I wouldn't drink it now, seriously. You'll be up on vinfanticide charges

If you have one, drink a 2012 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz instead. Decant it for 24 hours.

I don't think St. Peters are that unapproachable young....

But I'd probably go the Slow Ox method anyways...and then just a splash in the decanter before serving...

And the winner is Polymer!

We were very pleasantly surprised when popping/twisting and pouring the St Peter's that it was quite brilliant within minutes. What stood out for me was the texture of the wine. Super fine tannins, subtle acid, perfect weight in the mouth, no sign of over extraction nor alcohol heat. Totally drinkable after 10 minutes in the glass. I've had loads of young wines which are just tight as a drum early on in their lives or without a good decant, but this wine is/was just superb. And yes, it has the goods to live forever.

Thanks for all of the advice guys. It was my pleasure taking one for the team.

Cheers, Travis.

Decanting is much a mystery for me, here are two opposite examples that I have encountered:
(1) My favorite wine lately has been the 2002 Coppertrail Shiraz from Annie's lane. Still lovely deep purple red, I double decanted it for 2-3 h and it then opened gloriously with black fruit and anise+licorice flavour. Long finish and it tasted well the next evening.
(2) Something to surprise my friends over a duck roast dinner was a 2001 Yarra Yering Dry Red #1. The wine was double decanted for more than 10 h (got up, decant the wine which really tasted horrible for the next five hours, extremely lovely with the duck at 7 pm) and held on until next evening.
My question then: with some bottles to test I know what to do. What about my 1999 St Peters, my only bottle? Or a 2000 Tigliano? Or a 1996 Chateau Pavie?

Better too old than too young.

Mistook - see below.

swirler wrote:Better too old than too young.

Amen to that, and none of the wines mentioned above are anywhere near being old.

Mahmoud.

Too true. Unfortunately I only have a real old one, a 1976 Seppelt Chalambar Australian Burgundy that has been hanging around in my cool basement (18C) for quite a while. I am too afraid to open it, although I did drink the 1977/78/79 ten years ago, roughly. They were all great.

Dang wrote:Too true. Unfortunately I only have a real old one, a 1976 Seppelt Chalambar Australian Burgundy

I see your 1976 and raise my 1965


I'm too scared to drink mine too

Wow, but I must have one of those Chalambar when I was a student in Adelaide in the late sixties. Our son will visit us in late June, so it will be a good time as any to open my 76, and a few others! Thanks for sharing.

For those with 1965 and 1976 vintages of Chalambar, I suggest they're not going to get any better. Please open them now and let us know what they're like

Right-o. We've got a bottle of Bindi Block 5 2012 to have tonight. What to people reckon re decanting time?

Cheers, Travis.

Personally with a young biggish new world Pinot with a bit of guts I'd try to look at it in all stages of its oxidation evolution, ie. a glass with my wife on opening and enjoy the variation through the evening and put a bit in the bottle for the next day (in the fridge with a dose of winesave to super-slow-ox it).

Not sure if that's an option for you but it's a nice way to get an inkling of what the wine may have in store for the future.

Thanks odyssey!

As it turned out we popped, poured a glass and then the rest went into the decanter. We drank half the bottle Sat night and the rest last night. It held up amazingly well, with only just the first signs of it falling apart when we finished it up last night.

The other thing which struck me was how delicate and only just medium bodied it was. Already hauntingly translucent, this wasn't a big Pinot at all. Bloody delicious mind you. Drink now or hold for another 5 years.

Cheers, Travis.

Hi Forumites

Appreciate some decanting suggestions, some friends and I recently purchased the following wines which we will consume over a couple of dinners designed to benefit the wines. Many thanks in advance. I was thinking of a 3 hour decant in my large Villeroy and Bosch bell bottomed decanter, open to other ideas though, not my forte.

Craig S

2005 Dead Arm
2005 MM Quintet
2005 Cullen DM
2004 Grant Burge Meshach
2005 Katnook Odyssey
2005 Elderton Command

For me, I would open a few hours before hand, give a quick decant and remove sediment, and then leave in the bottle to breathe slowly. If you taste it then and it does seem very very closed, then consider a longer decant

Though it does depend- will it be a larger dinner with many people each getting just a small glass or a small dinner with time to enjoy a couple of glasses? If the former, consider a more vigorous airing as people wont have the chance to let the wine open up more in the glass

Thanks Sam, smaller dinner with time for a decent glass each. Will take your advice, was similar to my original thoughts.

Decanting can work, but it can go wrong - sometimes young wine just closes up.

My advice would be to pop and pour and see how it goes. If its closed or tight then stick it in a food mixer for a few minutes - it really does work. I would not do it for an old wine, but it can work well with big, young wines.

mychurch wrote:Decanting can work, but it can go wrong - sometimes young wine just closes up.

Agreed. The 2012 St Henri we had over Christmas did this. It was beautiful straight from the bottle, I gave it 2 hours in the decanter and at the tale end of the first glass, it started to close. My first St Henri experience and user error almost ruined it.

I am thinking of opening a bottle of Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2012 on Saturday to give it a try before the next round of Wendouree fever hits. How long do we recommend I decant it for? Double decant in the morning and leave with the cap off for the day and drink in the evening, is that too much or not enough. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

We have a 2014 Penfolds Bin 389 (too young, I know, I'm slowly building up 389's) to open for lunch tomorrow. I'm thinking of tasting after breaky to see if it could do with some time in the open. I had thought to let it sit for three hours and then back into the bottle so it can be cooled in a fridge before serving.

Does that sound sound?

Redav wrote:We have a 2014 Penfolds Bin 389 (too young, I know, I'm slowly building up 389's) to open for lunch tomorrow. I'm thinking of tasting after breaky to see if it could do with some time in the open. I had thought to let it sit for three hours and then back into the bottle so it can be cooled in a fridge before serving.

Does that sound sound?

I'd do a double decant on it today and put the lid back on and leave it on the bench overnight then a few hours before service cool it down a bit in the fridge. I did the same to an 2004 Signature for the off line in Brisbane earlier in the year and it was perfect (In terms of a signature that is).

Yeah I reckon it'll show better on day 2 than 1. Good advice from rens, just make sure it doesn't sit somewhere too warm overnight.

How long would you have sat it in the decanter? Quick? Longer? I've not double decanted before. Between posting, I've leaf blowen and hosed around the house, made two trips to our green waste, hosed down the furniture, showered, church, dinner so only now getting back to the wine

The science isn't fully understood, but the act of pouring it into the decanter and then soon after back into the bottle is what will get the oxygen interaction going, sitting it in a decanter for hours will have a lesser effect than the actual double decant itself. I'd give it 10 mins, then back in the bottle, cork back in and leave it somewhere cool overnight.

.

Yup. Righto. Yes, aware it's not an exact science. I figured I'd it put it back into the cheap wine cabinet. It's set to 15 degrees but sits around 17 degrees at the top

Cheers, I'll see how this goes. Merry Christmas