Time a red needs to decant vs "ready to drink"

So I understand all wines are different, and everyone’s taste is subjective, but in general, would you say that the time a wine needs to decant to be drinkable is an indicator of having hit the right aging?

So the reason I bring this up is the last couple bottles I’ve opened have needed to sit for a bit (2+ hours) to not be really tannin forward, and the 13 Paso Robles Zinfandel (piedra creek, if it matters) I opened today was really nice straight out of the bottle. I’ve read that most winemakers put out wine when it’s ready to be drunk, and so I was wondering if the drinkability was a function of the age or the winemaker.

Instead of trying to explain what makes a wine drinkable, it might be better to go into what makes a wine capable of aging well. Depth of fruit, preferably ripe tannins, and sufficient acid are generally considered the components required for desirable aging. Because these components are readily available due to the fruit reaching both sugar and phenolic ripeness, most wines are drinkable upon release, even if they have the potential to develop with bottle maturity in a desirable way. With wines that have noticeable tannins, exposure to air can sometimes accentuate their perception. With these wines, aging is what is required to resolve the tannins. The idea of “splash” decanting young wines is simply done to expedite what would take place more gradually in the glass. Some wines like very old Barolo can significantly benefit from extended aeration in the decanter. Whereas old Burgundies can begin to fade with too much exposure to air.

Quite often, decanting past that initial burst of air, can actually detract. I had that exact thing happen the other day with the amazing Arnot-Roberts Syrah. I decanted it, but as usual, I sneak a glass immediately out of the decanter. It was just perfect - nervy, young, full of fruit. Amazing. After about 1.5hrs (after sneaking some more, naturally), the last pour was not as good as the first. Some of the fruit had gone away and it wasn’t as fresh and exciting as those first glasses.

Or maybe I’m just funny that way - I quite often tend to like them right out of the decanter.

In response to the bolded question, I’d say no. Many top Old World wines need some decanting even when they are in the middle of their ideal drinking windows. They take time to open up.

Drinkability is a function of age and lots of other things – fruitiness, tannins – much of which is a bit of a mystery. I don’t think there are general rules across different wine types.

Was your 2013 a current release? Most zins drink well from release, a couple of years after the vintage, without a need for major decanting. There’s a rule for you!

I don’t think it was a recent release, but it might have been. It was a last bottle wines marathon i picked up because I like zinfandel and it was ~$10

I generally take a similar approach. If it isn’t something I know to be a PnP, I sample one ounce upon opening with just 5-10 minutes in the glass. Then decide if I am decanting, or slow-oxing based on when I want to drink it. Usually the second, but I often open wines in the morning so I can do so. Then I go back and reassess occasionally and if it seems ready sooner than expected I just put the cork back in. It can be very informative and also interesting to see the wine evolve and change over the hours.

It’s definitely the case that some are best drunk immediately after opening. Some just give up the ghost after a couple of minutes.

But I’ve also had some that were fragrant then, shut down, and then opened up with an extended decant, offering different aromas. Nebbiolo tends to be that way. Northern Rhone syrah can also be like that. I’ve found that more common with Old World wines. It seems very dependent on the grape, the region, age and other factors. Chemically, I recall (dimly) that it’s a function of how easily the aroma compounds dissolve, which is no doubt affected by temperature and air pressure, etc. I would guess that alcohol level might affect this, too.

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So I understand all wines are different, and everyone’s taste is subjective, but in general, would you say that the time a wine needs to decant to be drinkable is an indicator of having hit the right aging?

Hi Tinah - John beat me to it but I would say that the answer is no. Some wines want no decanting at all. Others may benefit. But it has nothing to do with aging.

All wines age differently and different grapes typically show different aging curves and then flavor/aroma profiles when they’ve aged. But decanting has nothing to do with that. You decant because you want to pour off some sediment or because you think your wine is reductive and you want to get some of the aromas to “blow off”. Sometimes adding a bit of oxygen can help a wine “wake up” too. But that can happen with young wines or middle aged wines, or, as John says, older wines.

While I agree with you, I find it funny because an Italian wine director at a Michelin star restaurant once told me that decanting is an “American creation” and is basically not done in Europe. I suppose there’s a discussion to be had about the pacing of a meal in Europe vs the US and how that allows for letting wine evolve without decanting (and maybe Americans not laying down wine long enough in the first place?), but it’s a comment that still sticks with me.

I am under the impression that Americans have the propensity to age wine longer than both the French and Italians.