Decanting wine is the process of extracting the sediment from the wine and aerates the wine, or lets it breathe. Pouring wine from a bottle into a container will maximizing your wine's exposure to the surrounding air. A wine will have a richer, stronger aroma and quality of taste at its peak oxygenation. Red wines commonly require decanting. One should know the important points about the decanting process.

Selecting the perfect decanting vessel is as important as selecting the right wine. The ideal wine decanter will have to allow maximum air to wine contact. The wine bottle itself will simply not allow the wine to breathe. The bottle neck is too small.

Decanting begins with pouring wine directly from the bottle into decanter that holds the entire content of that wine bottle. Pouring the wine is a slow process. The goal of a slow pour is to extract sediment from the bottle. Stop pouring once sediment is seen coming from the bottle. Place the bottle into a safe, upright storing position for a day to allow sediment to settle before resuming.

As a general rule the more tannins a wine has the more time it will need to breathe. Lighter-bodied red wines, like a Pinot Noir, have a lower tannin levels and will need little if any time to breathe.

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