3-6 hour decant

[Brian_S_t_o_t_t_e_r]

My house is 60 degrees in winter,

Why?

SWMBO likes cooler temps. It’s OK, I just wear a sweatshirt.

I had to look that up, lol

[Albert_R]

I have a small under counter wine cooler in the kitchen in which I can decant up to three bottles and keep them at optimal temp while I monitor and check in on them over time.

[S_Stevenson]

@Cbonnell

For people that are doing 3-6 hour decants: do you try to control the temperature too? For instance if it’s a cab and you want it at 55 degrees or so but the decant brings it up to room temperature I’d say you defeated the point of the decant. And that is to have the wine showing optimally on multiple senses. Maybe everyone who is decanting for that long has a process to keep the wine cool but I’ve never heard it.

On an aside is a 3-6 hours decant crazy!?

Yes, you are crazy. Check this thread The myth of letting wines breathe - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers and see that letting wines breathe is a myth.

[Alan_Rath]

@Cbonnell

For people that are doing 3-6 hour decants: do you try to control the temperature too? For instance if it’s a cab and you want it at 55 degrees or so but the decant brings it up to room temperature I’d say you defeated the point of the decant. And that is to have the wine showing optimally on multiple senses. Maybe everyone who is decanting for that long has a process to keep the wine cool but I’ve never heard it.

On an aside is a 3-6 hours decant crazy!?

Yes, you are crazy. Check this thread The myth of letting wines breathe - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers and see that letting wines breathe is a myth.

Well, you said it’s a myth in that thread, but a lot of us disagreed. I continue to strongly disagree that aeration of most wine doesn’t change them. I was quite confident in the discussion back then, and after almost two years now of zoom tastings, trying wines over multiple days and seeing their development, there is now absolutely no doubt in my mind that air changes wines, more often than not for the better.

[Ravi_Raju]

3-6 hours is not crazy at all imo. Plenty of wines that required close to 6 imo.

I also find that temperature is very important when decanting. From my experience, if you decant the wine at 75degrees and cool it, it will need significantly less time than if you do it at 60 degrees. I try not to use the fridge, but I use it occasionally as well to cool it after the fact, or sometimes to keep a wine overnight. I have never left an open bottle (without cork) in the fridge, so I unfortunately, don’t have anything to input on scent transfer.

I agree. I think it is better to decant at room temperature and then put it back in the refrigerator for 15 (glass) or 20 (decanter) minutes prior to serving. In my experience, wines decanted in the refrigerator (or even the wine refrigerator) take longer to open up than wines decanted at room temperature.

[PatrickW]

To me that makes sense - chemical reactions occur quicker at warmer temps. I also decant at room temp, then put back in the wine fridge prior to serving.