So I have to head to a friend’s house for dinner and i dont want to drink his Charles Shaw or Bota Box.
Can I just pop the wine cork, leave it open for 2-3 hours and recork before heading over? have anyone done this with poor success?
Why not just suggest that since your friend is nice enough to invite you over for dinner that you could bring the wine for everyone? Anyone who drinks boxed wine clearly doesn’t care enough about wine to be insulted…
Then double decant the non-lazy way if the wine needs it, and maybe you’ll convince him that some wine is worth paying for…
To answer your actual question: the question of whether or not “slow oxing” wine (opening and just exposing to air without decanting) actually works is hotly debated.
Decant it at home, pour it back into the bottle & then everything should be fine.
Yes. That’s what I am doing. I will be bringing 3 bottles of wine to share for everyone.
But i dont have 3 decanters at home and wondering if i could just decant the lazy way.
Just pulling the cork won’t do much. But if you double decant each wine and then put in back in the bottle to rest it for a few hours, it has indeed an impact. The impact will be even bigger if you take out (drink) a glass in order to enlarge the surface the wine gets in contact with air.
You could also use any big jug/pitcher as a makeshift decanter.
I often do that but usually pour out one glass to get a little more air in the bottle.
Not sure if it does much
Just pulling the cork will not really move the needle on wines that need to be aerated; you are exposing surface area the size of a nickel. Maybe if you left them that way for days or something, but I don’t know how well anyone could guess what would be the right amount that way.
As Andy said, if you pour a few ounces out so that now the top of the wine is below the shoulder, it will aerate relatively faster, though still a lot less than if you poured it into a decanter. Maybe if you did that in the morning or something, again, totally depending on how much air you want to give the wine in question.
It sounds most likely the double decant is your best move. Pour one wine into the decanter, maybe leave it in there for some period of time or not, then pour it back into the bottle through a funnel. You can then do the same thing with the next bottle and the next bottle, using the same decanter. Though I guess that isn’t a “lazy” method since it does require some work.
Maybe the “laziest” method that might work for you, assuming these are not wines with any sediment, is to pull the cork, put your thumb on the top of the bottle, and shake it up, maybe repeat a couple of times, or maybe do it after pouring out an ounce or so, so more air is between your thumb and the wine. That will force some air into the wine, I think, without needing to use a decanter. You could experiment with that and see if it seems to get you the aeration you want in an easy, no mess kind of way.
Pulling the cork works, but if it’s a big wine I do it 24 hours in advance. There’s a big difference to me between a bottle opened a day in advance vs a pop and pour. If you want to speed things up slightly, you can pour a bit out (you know, to taste to make sure it’s not corked or anything) and then you’ll expose the wine to more air.
Decant the first bottle into the decanter. Rinse the bottle. Pour the wine back into the bottle.
Rinse and repeat with 2nd and 3d bottles.
That’ll get rid of sediment and get a little oxygen into the wine. It will allow only a short period of “off-gassing” of volatiles, which may be more important than dissolving oxygen in the wine. Leave the wine that needs the most air time in the decanter a while before pouring it back into the bottle. For the others, they can develop “in the glass” during dinner.
Finally, you can cheaply fix your decanter deficiency with a few of these:
+1
Just pulling the cork sometimes helps with old wines that have some funky/off aromas that blow off and are too delicate to decant. But it won’t do anything for a sturdier, younger wine.
You’ve communicated with your friend you’re bringing wines? You didn’t say.
Advice on decanting depends on the wines.
You might be doing a bit of over-kill, bringing wines that you think need to be decanted. I might go more middle ground, maybe a couple fun and exciting affordable wines and one that’s more special. Novices don’t always even “get” some more expensive wines. Your host may appreciate the expensive wines, but not be enticed into wine due to the massive price differential from what they’re used to paying. People can be intimidated by wine. Show them something that excites them that they’re comfortable paying for and eager to buy, and you’ve successfully corrupted a mind. This all depends on the person. Maybe you’ll just be the guy who brings the nice wines to dinner.
David points out the utility of a decanter can be accomplished with a cheap water pitcher. You can get actual decanters places like CostPlus. It’s nice to have both big, open ones for aeration and narrow, vertical ones for minimal aeration. No reason to pay for some fragile fancy bullshit Riedel - you want something that won’t break if you look at it funny. A friend who entertains a lot picked up a bunch of decanters from Goodwill. Seems like something their customers aren’t really looking for.
You saw the forest for the trees here, Wes. We’re debating decanting technique when the guests probably won’t be paying much attention to the wines. Much better to bring some nice, moderately priced things that don’t need decanting.
You absolutely can do this.
This is how I’d do it. Assuming there is sediment to remove.
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My lazy method of decanting is to pour a glass and then shake the remainder of the bottle. This only works with young wines with no sediment.
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Wine specific decanters are highly overrated. Any pitcher will do and requires less effort than double decanting back into the bottle.
I have seen mason jars used as a decanter. This may be a good option if you need an extra decanter on the quick.
I was also going to suggest the Mollydooker shake if a young wine
Another easy option for getting air into the wine is to use a pyrex glass measuring cup (2 cup size works well). Pour some wine into the pyrex and pour it back in the bottle. The great thing is the pouring lip of the pyrex fits perfectly into the top of the bottle…I’ve never spilled, even when I’m in a rush (usually!). Doing this ~2+ hours ahead should be fine. Doing immediately before drinking won’t have any impact at first, but it will open up more during the evening, so folks can get a better sense of how wines change as they open, which can be a cool experience for folks that don’t decant a lot.
Ikea has a number of vases that are cheap (usually about $5), look nice and are around the right size. I asked them, and the vases are made to work with food/liquids (i.e. its food safe glass).
But most folks have a pyrex measuring cup, so for me that’s the simpler option
Just wait until you bring your nice wine and drink from their cheap wine glasses!