Do you own and use a glass decanter, something you empty a bottle of wine into so that it has more surface area to breathe before pouring?

If you watch old movies, decanters were often "pretty serving bottles" - they would use them to add a sense of formality to the table. Sort of like putting butter out in a glass butter dish, rather than setting it out in its store wrapper.

Sure I use a decanter and I use it for both purposes you mention as well as the third.

Put that in your quiz.

Any special kind you prefer

Hmmmm that's odd I don't have a photo of mine in my decanter area. I'll have to add that in. In the meantime it's similar to this captain's decanter -



just with a flat top to it. I love that shape.

Very similar to what I have now, likewise with a flat top.

My preference is one I had some years back, which had a mostly spherical ... what - belly, vessel, body? Had a rather long neck, was certainly a major pain to clean, but made a great presentation.

I used to have a small collection of cheap glass decanters, but since they were cheap to begin with and second hand mostly when I got them, they had to be flea marketed at the time of a move.

Now I just have the one, but I'd like to get another before the holidays - ooh, red AND white on the table in decanters. nice.

That sounds like a lovely idea, Brom!

I do love my decanter but it's also fairly heavy, and I worry about my guests knocking over half the table when they are trying to move it around since they're unfamiliar with the shape. So I suppose having a decanter like that, in our house at least, means we have to pour all the wine for people.

I've learned that decanters help a wine breathe, but what types of wine are better being opened up and allowed to breathe before serving? Also, how long should they breathe before serving?

I think i just found my answers at http://wineintro.com/basics/decanting.html.

Good stuff Lisa. My mom uncorked a 1.5L bottle of merlot for about 20 minutes saying that she wanted it to breathe before drinking. Turns out it really didnt help. Now i know what to buy her for her birthday. A nice decanter!

How weird would it be to use a vase for a decanter? Vases come in all shapes and sizes nowadays. I am pretty sure my wife has a vase just like the decanter pictured above in Lisa's post...

"I am pretty sure my wife has a vase just like the decanter pictured above"

If she does, then it is a decanter and not a vase.

You know the old saying: If it doesn't walk or talk like a duck, but does kind of look like a stylized duck, then it's not a duck, it's a decanter.

I'm sure they must make vases in that shape, though, and that they are made as vases. Pottery is an ancient art form and they make all sorts of shapes for all sorts of reasons. There's no reason to say that shape X must only be used for decanting wine!

Jon - not to generalize TOO much but in general merlots that are sold "bulk" in 1.5 liter bottles aren't meant for aging, and therefore won't really be helped by decanting. If all she did was uncork it, nothing happened to it. I'm not sure decanting it would have helped - it probably would have hurt. And most decanters won't handle 1.5 liters, decanters are meant to hold one bottle which is 750ml.

So if she tends to drink casual wines, I wouldn't necessarily get her a decanter. It would hurt the wine, not help it, and they're a pain to clean So it just adds more hassle.

Get her some nice wine glasses instead

Researching "opening up" wines.

Traditional wine decanter versus the venturi style aerators versus a slow elevated pour?

Reading up on the principle of opening up a wine, it seems that bubbles = aeration. If this is a correct conclusion, does slowly pouring from an elevated height function in the same way as a decanter or venturi aerator? Or, does the elevated pour damage the wine/fruit/balance?

Regards,
Acetyl-Mike

Decanting - especially for older wines - is usually done gently for a long period of time. You agitate them as little as possible. I would think that pouring from high to agitate it thoroughly wouldn't be as helpful . Especially if it had sediment!