Keep it standing up while driving, then 2 days rest? I would think any modest stirred up sediment will have settled by then, should be fine.
lots of old Burgundy has very fine sediment that needs much more time than that to settle. Depends on the wine, of course.
reminds me of a story I can finally laugh about. Back then I was pissed. Carefully cradled a bottle of 71 Leroy Clos de la Roche to a restaurant at a resort hotel we drove to. Set it on the table relieved that it seemed perfect after the trip, a layer of sediment on the bottom. Idiot somm walked to the table, picked up the bottle before I could throw myself in front of it, and tipped it cork down to read the label, spluging the sediment throughout the bottle and ruining the wine. I had no backup bottle. Since then, I donāt let a somm touch my wine unless I know the person.
Iām in the no mature reds category for travel, unless thereās more time to let the sediment settle. Plenty of options for younger reds or white wines. And Barolo is the worst of all ā its sediment is just so bitter.
Regarding centrifuge thinking, sock it to the bottle with a sock.
Could you Coravin it directly into a clean bottle to minimize 02 and cork it? Though, that might not handle the sediment.
Maybe decant with minimal 02 exposure and pour back into the same bottle thatās been rinsed clean. Or, decant directly into another bottle and immediately cork and label it.
have you used a Coravin? You tip the bottle to pour. Youād send the sediment everywhere. If the trip is close by and the wine will be drunk within a few hours, double decant and Vacuvin.
You also tip the bottle to pour without a Coravin. There are lots of homebrew techniques to transfer a batch from one vessel to another with little to no 02 exposure so Iād probably try that, maybe call my homebrew store and get a device to do it with. 2 months of standing them might be flushed down the toilet after an 8hr drive.
Double decant with filter both times or use the siphoning method.
WRONG! I have a Masterās degree in biomedical engineering, which involved working in a research lab where my project was the design, fabrication, and characterization of nanoparticulate materials. The particles I was working with ranged in size from 250-500 nanometers in diameter; thatās 0.25-0.5 microns, which is well below the threshold of human visual detection. However, these particles are more than capable of creating turbidity (aka cloudiness) in a fluid. The cloudiness that tiny particle of sediment create are not from direct visual detection by eye, but instead the light scatter they produce. Scattered light results in a disruption of transparency, and therefore, decanting over a candle can absolutely be more effective than a coffee filter in the removal of tiny sediment in the nanometer size range. Also, particle size has nothing to do with flavor detection. Therefore, particles of this tiny size are more than capable of ruining a glass of wine.
On a related note, in the lab we would get these particles out of suspension using an absolutely monster centrifuge. That thing was the size of fridge, had a rotor machined out of a single block of aluminum, and was capable of spinning well over 20,000 rpm. I always fantasized about centrifuging a bottle of wine in there for the CLEAREST and CLEANEST glass of wine ever. Of course, the faster the rpm, the more important balancing the centrifuge becomes. Just a tiny error would turn a wine bottle into a deadly missile. I always concluded it wasnāt worth the experiment; even if the flying bottle didnāt kill someone, I would have trouble explaining what happened to my boss!
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Noah - Thanks for those insights into particulates! I couldnāt imagine any metal mesh filter could solve the problem of very fine sediment.
true but you can control the sediment a d stop the pour while it remains in the bottle. Try that w Coravin.
I hate this. Had it happen so many times that I tell servers āPlease keep the bottle standing straight until itās decanted.ā No matter how āfancyā the restaurant, I would just rather open my own wine if I bring something special with age.
All of this discussion has seemed to reference āoldā wines. I wonder at what age sediment becomes an issue for red wines? Does it matter for California vs Spanish vs French?
I have travelled with wines many times. Usually they are California reds, 5 to 10 years old. I am flying to Denver in a couple of weeks. I plan to pack a few bottles in my checked bag. Of course, the bottles will spend most of their time horizontal. I would expect to drink the wines a couple of days after I get off the plane.
I donāt worry much about sediments in 5-10 yr old wines (generally speaking).
I wouldnt focus on where the wine was made. I would focus more on the grape varietal. Different grapes have different thickness in skin. As the wine age the tannins form in to sediments.
+1
The āuntil itās decantedā part of this doesnāt end the story. Even at some very nice restaurants, ādecantingā to some just means dumping the bottle at full glug into a decanter, with no thought to potential sediment. I either try not to bring a bottle with any chance of sediment issues, or I decant at home (call ahead to be sure the particular restaurant allows this).
You know, I almost said thatā¦Iāve had that happen to me too many times to count, too. I swear there has to be money (at least post-Covid) for someone who actually knows how to serve wine properly to do a consulting business for restaurant servers.