Dan Berger: Why decanters are important to wine

<p>Decanters for wine are typically much wider at the bottom, where they sit on the table, than at the top. And only a handful of decanters are narrow enough to fit into an ice bucket.</p><p>Yet decanting white wine is becoming a great tactic to allow wines to smell and taste better. </p><p>We all know that decanting red wines is a good idea. For one thing, younger red wines need time to recover from fermentation, and a lot of young reds have had no time for the flavors to knit or blend. Air helps that process in young wines. Even inexpensive wines can benefit and come together with aeration.</p><p>Also, many mature red wines get a bit funky after years in the bottle and can benefit from aeration.</p><p>What's new is that many white wines today are in need of aeration, and the best way to do that is by decanting. But if they're transferred into a regular large-bottomed decanter, they can't stay cold very long. Riesling and Gewurztraminer — and other aromatic varieties (including Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier) — would benefit from not only decanting, but staying cool in an ice bucket.</p><p>The reason for decanting whites is that some (notably those sealed with a screwcap) have a dose of sulfur dioxide that leaves the wine with the hint of a matchstick aroma. Decanting aerates the wine and gets rid of most of the SO2. Other aromas that are not supposed to be in wine also can aerate off by decanting.</p><p>Also, red wines that are a bit too young to drink are almost all benefited by decanting. This includes almost all wines you find on restaurant wine lists these days.</p><p>After decanting, almost all red wines begin to “breathe” and open up. The aroma benefits and the wine actually seems a bit softer and smoother.</p><p>(Simply pulling the cork on a bottle of wine does very little to allow the wine the aeration it needs to develop additional character. The amount of air that gets into the neck of the bottle is so small as to be negligible.)</p><p>All quality restaurants should be prepared to decant any wine the diner requests. It's one of the reasons you're paying such a premium for wine in restaurants: why not have it in the manner in which it tastes its best?</p><p>As for slim-bottomed decanters, one of my favorites is the Marquis by Waterford, which sells for about $70. It is narrow enough to fit nicely in an ice bucket.</p><p>A more elegant — and expensive — solution is the Cooling Decanter by Eisch, a German crystal maker. The double-walled half-bottle decanter allows a coolant in the chamber between the walls to be put in a freezer in advance so it drops below freezing.</p><p>When room-temperature wine is poured into it, the wine chills in a few minutes while the rest of the bottle is in the fridge. This handsome gadget has a retail price of about $150.</p><p>Then again, you could always pour your white wine through a funnel and into another wine bottle!</p><p>Wine of the Week: 2009 Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ($18) — The aroma of this fresh, fragrant wine is lime, grapefruit, and pears, but the real surprise is the low alcohol (12.6%) and the really crisp taste, unlike so many Sauvignons that are actually a bit sweet. Great with delicate seafood dishes. </p><p>Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, where he publishes “Vintage Experiences,” a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at danberger@rocketmail.com.</p>