Did you know that decanting can enrich the wine-drinking experience, making it more enjoyable and helping to reveal the wine's full potential? When you pour wine from the bottle into a decanter, it’s like giving your vino a fresh breath of air! This little oxygen party lets all those delightful aromas strut their stuff and helps the wine’s unique flavors mingle and shine. 

In addition to aeration, decanting wine serves several other purposes including separation of sediment, presentation, and temperature regulation. 

• Aeration: Allowing wine to interact with air can amplify its flavors and aromas. This is especially advantageous for younger red wines, as it helps them develop and mellow out by diminishing the intensity of tannins.
• Separation of Sediment: As red wines age, along with certain vintage ports, they can accumulate sediment. Decanting effectively separates the clear wine from this sediment, ensuring it doesn’t end up in your glass.
• Presentation: Decanting also adds a touch of elegance to wine service. The act of pouring wine from a decanter elevates the entire experience.
• Temperature Regulation: Decanting can help bring a wine to its optimal serving temperature, especially if the wine was stored at a different temperature.

So how long is long enough to ensure you are getting your wine’s full potential? That of course depends on what you are drinking! Red wines typically take 20 minutes up to 2 hours depending on the style. If it is a light-bodied red, like our Braganini Reserve Pinot Noir, you can let it decant for 20 to 30 minutes. If it is a medium-bodied red such our Braganini Reserve Cabernet Franc or Braganini Reserve Merlot, it would be more middle ground around 30 minutes to an hour. However, for full bodied red wines such as our Braganini Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, you should let it decant for an hour or more. And that is just red wine! Here is a breakdown of decanter times for other types of wines. 

White and rosé wines only need to be decanted if it is reduced which means it lacks aromas or smells like a burnt match. Pour it into a glass and wait 15 to 20 minutes and you should smell a lot more fruit aromas! White wines like our Sauvignon Blanc will actually lose its aroma if you decant and let it sit so it is best not to unless you notice the signs of it being reduced. When it comes to sparkling wines, there are only a few rare cases when you can decant – like very rare – and if needed it is only for 15 to 20 minutes before you are enjoying. The only time this is necessary is if you are enjoying a grower Champagne or small-production Champagne which usually have reduction like discussed for white and rosé wines. Give our Brut Champagne, Sweet Nancie, or Ciao Bolle sparkling wines a try and you can skip the decanting process altogether.

Stop by one of our tasting rooms and one of our wine consultants can help you pick out a bottle or two for you to take home. We have lots of great wines to try and explore whether you want one that prefers to be decanted or if you prefer something that is ready to sip right out of the bottle!