This is just about the most important thing you’ll ever read about wine.
This is the back label of a bottle of Luke Lambert Syrah. There’s one sentence on it that’s more important than anything else you’ll read when it comes to maximising the enjoyment to be had from almost any bottle of wine.
“Decant and serve at 17 degrees C.”
Folks, I cannot emphasise how important these two actions are if you want to get the best out of the next bottle of wine you open.
Almost any bottle of red, white, rose or fortified wine will benefit from decanting.
This goes especially for younger wines.
Fancy-shaped crystal vessels are not required (though they can be fun). Young wine wants air. It wants to breath. And then it wants to exhale all its lovely aroma, flavour and texture. Only then will it be ready to pleasure you.
Decanting should not be reserved for “special” bottles or so-called “special occasions”. It should be part of your routine whenever you open a bottle.
How long? Even 20-30 minutes will help. An hour can work wonders with full bodied, young reds. Or here’s what I do. If I plan to drink a good bottle of youngish nebbiolo, cabernet, shiraz, or even full bodied chardonnay on a particular day, I open it the same morning, pour it out of the bottle (into a jug or whatever vessel is at hand), then immediately (via a funnel) pour it back into the bottle. This is called “double decanting”. The wine doesn’t need to sit in the decanter for the decanting to take effect. It just needs that initial run of oxygen through the wine to get it gently breathing.
Double decanting is a perfect solution before visiting restaurants or friends’ places that don’t have decanting facilities.
Not going to a byo? Do what I do: download the restaurant’s wine list, pick your bottle, then ring the restaurant and say “I’ll be ordering a bottle of your Albino Rocca Barbaresco, could you please pour it into a decanter for me now?”. Simple.
Double decant more delicate reds and whites a couple of hours before you intend to serve.
Hey, you could even drop past our shop on the way and we’ll do the decanting for you!
Don’t go overboard if the wine is sitting in a decanter. After a few hours, a wine exposed to open air will lose the nice volatile compounds that give it its aroma, leaving it looking tired.
Arguable even more important than decanting, and certainly more overlooked, is wine being served at a decent temperature.
In short, in Australia we serve whites way too cold and reds way too warm.
Your fridge is set to around 4 degrees C. How expressive do you feel when you’re at 4 degrees? Not very, I’d guess. Cold temperatures like this suppress aroma and flavour. They also numb our tastebuds. Sure, some wines may “go down easier” when cold, but is that all you want when you’ve paid good money for that good bottle? No. You want more.
Look to serve whites at more like 12 - 16 degrees. At the lower end for crisper whites like riesling and unoaked sauvignon blanc, and at the warmer end for fuller bodied whites like chardonnay. Good chardonnay really only gets into gear at around 15+ in my experience. Any lower and you’re wasting your money.
Take your white wine out of the fridge about half an hour or so (depending on room temp) before serving. Decanting will help with this too.
Ask your sommelier/waiter to leave your bottle of white out on the table, not in ice.
And reds? Serve reds at “room temperature”, right? Not in Australia. Room temperature in Australia averages anywhere around 20-25 degrees, even in winter because we turn heaters on.
I like reds served anywhere from around 15 degrees (wine cellar temperature) for lighter wines like pinot noir or gamay to no more than 18 degrees for some fuller bodied reds. Any more and reds lose the “togetherness” of their aromas, and become “soupy”, indistinct and even boozy to taste. Good red wine has a flow and structure which falls to pieces at warm temperatures.
So pop your bottle of red in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before serving. It should feel “cool” (but not cold) in your mouth when you taste it. Decant it.
You’ll be maximising the pleasure you get from every bottle you open.
