Wine Decanting
Guide
Why should wine
be decanted?
Choosing decanters
according to the type
of wine
Have a thorough
knowledge of your
decanter
Decanting tips
Wine
Decanting
Franck Thomas,
awarded best sommelier in France
and Europe in 2000.
Unravel the mysteries of wine,
discover the art of tasting,
and make prestigious wines sublime…
Why
should
wine be
decanted?
It is important to note
that wine is alive.
It needs air to breathe
and to express itself.
It has a life cycle just
like human beings.
young, wine will seduce you with its fruity
A decanter should be chosen
according to the type of wine
to be decanted:
Young powerf ul red wine
requires a lot of oxygen. Therefore is it essential
to aerate this wine by pouring it in a very broad
decanter. Wine will become better and smoother.
“Saveurs de Vins”, boasting the know-how of
Peugeot, provides a comprehensive range of
accessories for learning to taste and savour your
wines.
emphasizes and enhances the pleasure of wine
tasting. Nowadays, decanting is not exclusive
to professionals. On the contrary, the decanter
invites itself at the table of every lover of life.
mature, wine will be elegant and smooth
in the end of life, it becomes sober and
Soft red wine and young white
wine require little oxygen. Therefore it is essential
to aerate these wines by pouring them in a rather
narrow decanter. They will become better and more
aromatic.
To appreciate the magic of wine, a decanter is
essential. Decanting wine is giving it the most
beautiful setting to let it reveal the subtle details
of its texture and to let it express intensively. The
decanter is an object of art, but it is also a tool that
Peugeot and Franck Thomas, Europe’s and
France’s Best Sommelier in 2000, combined their
expertise to initiate you to wine decanting and to
give you simple and yet efficient tips.
Therefore, the younger and the more powerful
wine is, the more oxygen it needs to reveal itself,
to develop its flavours and to reach to a rounded
texture. This is the reason why, a bottle of wine
opened the day before is better the day after.
Mature red wine and mature
white wine need to be protected from oxygen. Therefore, it is essential to pour these wines in
a narrow decanter.
Wine will become better and more refined.
Through this guide, we invite you to a symphony for your senses, in order to reveal and
enhance your wine.
flavours
discreet
As for mature wine, the amount of oxygen must
be moderated to reveal wine without weakening it.
Decanting wine allows you to reveal your wine’s
potential and emphasize its flavours if opened
before its peak.
Aerators are very practical accessories which ensure
a better oxygenation for young powerful red wine. The
aerator disperses the wine over the decanter’s walls
to ensure an intense oxygenation. Wine will become
tastier and fruitier.
Choosing
decanters
according
to the type
of wine
Here are some examples of powerful red wines
REGION
Vendange
Capitaine
EXAMPLES
Bordeaux Cabernet-Sauvignon
Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe, St-Julien, Listrac, Moulis
Vallée du Rhône main varietals Syrah
or grenache
Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Croze-Hermitage, Châteauneuf du Pape,
Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Lirac
Sud ouest
Cahors, Madiran, Pécharmant
Cabernet-Sauvignon
or Merlot World’s wine
Italy (Chianti), California (Napa Valley), South Africa (Stellenbosch),
Australia (Conawarra), Argentina (Mendoza), Chile (Maipo)
World’s wine predominantly
made of Syrah (Shiraz)
California (Central Coast, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterrey, San Luis Obispo,
Santa Barbara), Australia (Barossa, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Hunter Valley),
New Zealand (Hawke’s Bay), South Africa (Paarl)
Other world’s wines
Argentinean Malbec (Mendoza), Uruguayen Tannat, Chiliean Carménère,
Austrian Blaufränkisch (Burgenland), Australian Grenache (Barossa), Portugal (Douro)
Very broad decanter. It makes your wine more exquisite. Its bouquet releases all of its intensity. Its tannins are softer.
Here are some examples of soft red wines
REGION
EXAMPLES
Loire
Chinon, Saumur Champigny, Bourgueil, Sancerre, Anjou
Bourgogne
Pommard, Volnay, Morey-Saint-Denis, Monthélie, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Ladoix,
Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin
Savoie
Roussette de Savoie, Mondeuse, Vin de Savoie
Jura
Côtes du Jura, Arbois, Arbois-Pupillin
Alsace
Here are some examples of mature red wines
A mature red wine is a wine with a high ageing potential
and which is at least 5 years old :
REGION
Osyris
EXAMPLES
Bordeaux Cabernet-Sauvignon
Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe
Bourgogne
Pommard, Volnay, Morey-Saint-Denis, Nuits-Saint-Georges,
Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin
Alsace Pinot Noir
Vallée du Rhône Syrah
Côte-Rôtie, Châteauneuf du Pape, Gigondas
Beaujolais
Morgon, Fleurie, Juliénas, Saint-Amour, Chénas, Moulin à vent
Sud-Ouest
Cahors, Madiran, Pécharmant
World’s pinot noir
California (Russian River Valley, Carneros, Sonoma Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains),
Oregon & Washington (Willamette Valley), New Zealand (Martinborough, Central Otago,
Marlborough), Australia (Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula), South Africa (Walker Bay),
Austria (Burgenland), Germany (Franken, Pfalz, Ahr), Switzerland (Valais)
World’s Cabernet
California (Napa Valley, Oakville, Rutherford, Yountville, Mount Veeder, Howell Mountains),
Italy (Toscana, Bolgheri), Argentina (Medoza)
Other world’s wines
Italy (Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico), Spain (Rioja Reserva & Gran Reserva, Priorat,
Ribera del Duero)
Other world’s wines
Portugal (Dão), Austria (Saint-Laurent, Zweigelt), Italy (Dolcetto), Switzerland (Humagne)
Broad decanter. When wine is young and dashing your decanter reveals its intensity and ardour.
Very narrow decanter. A great mature red wine flows slowly from the decanter to our glass. Refinement and sensual
delight are ideally present in this moment.
Ibis
Have a thorough
knowledge
of your decanter
A decanter must be filled with 75 cl to determine its function.
If the wine’s surface in contact with oxygen is wide then
the decanter is destined for young powerful red wine
Here are some examples
of powerful white wines
REGION
EXAMPLES
Bourgogne
Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet,
Chassagne-Montrachet, Batard-Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne
Alsace
Riesling, Pinot gris, Gewürztraminer
Rhône
Condrieu, Hermitage, Châteauneuf-du- Pape
Bordeaux
Pessac-Léognan, Sauternes, Barsac, Loupiac
World’s Chardonnays
California (Russian River Valley, Carneros, Sonoma Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains),
Italy (Terre di Franciacorta), Argentina (Mendoza), South Africa (Stellenbosch, Walker Bay,
Robertson), Austria (Wien), Australia (Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula), New Zealand
(Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough)
Other world’s wines
Spain (Rioja Reserva), Austria (Grüner Veltliner), Australia (Viognier, Roussane, Marsanne),
California (Viognier, Roussane, Marsanne), Argentina (Viognier)
Narrow decanter. Wine becomes largely more aromatic, softer.
Broad bodied decanters will let your
wine express itself, soften the tannins, make it smoother
and decrease the acidity in white wine. If the wine’s surface
in contact with oxygen is narrow, the decanter is destined
for mature wines and white wines or for soft red wines.
Narrow decanters allow fragile
wines to reveal themselves without loosing their
freshness. The contact with oxygen is minimised
and the wine is decanted smoothly.
Decanting
tips
Preservation
tips
When should wine
be decanted?
Where should decanters be kept
when filled in?
How to preserve your wine after the tasting?
Decanting is a highly important process, which brings
wine a large amount of oxygen. There is a simple serving principle: decanting wine only 5 minutes before
tasting it.
You should always keep the decanter in a cool place or
even in the fridge in order to keep wine at a right temperature when served. Wine can not be easily preserved in
a decanter; therefore it must be drunk within 24 hours.
It is possible to put the wine back in its bottle and to
close it by using an air vacuum pump for a better wine
protection.
With regards to young wine, this small period of time
allows wine to open, therefore to be all the more appreciated. Very young red wine with strong tannins can be
decanted one hour or even more before tasting it. As
for more evolved wine, these minutes strongly limit the
risk of weakening wine.
Whether it is red, white or rosé, your wine should be kept in the fridge, in its own bottle
and recorked. By decreasing the temperature, the wine’s transformation into vinegar
and wine oxidation will be limited.
The decanter’s cap doesn’t prevent wine from oxygenating. It rather protects wine from insects and dust. It
also has an aesthetic function.
Young wine and old wine decanting: what are the differences?
Young wine: decanting oxygenates young wines
Old wine: decanting is aimed at separating the sedi-
which need air to release their aromas and personalities.
ments (tannins and colouring materials) from the liquid
body by pouring wine in a narrow decanter and leaving the
sediments in the bottle. This process is designated to aged
wines only.
Preservation is linked to the wine level
remaining in the bottle.
Level of the wine remaining in the bottle
Preservation potential (%)
1/3 empty
75%
1/2 empty
50%
2/3 empty
30%
90% empty
10%
When decanting old wine
narrow decanters will be more favourable to prevent a too long and significant contact with
the air.
Old wine is fragile and must be handled with caution.
We recommend pouring it carefully into a decanter with sufficient lighting (candle, lamp)
which will allow you to detect the sediments and to stop pouring at the right moment.
Reminder
The emptier the bottle is, the more significant the risk of oxidation is and the less time wine will be preserved. Air vacuum
pumps, which allow you to remove most of the oxygen from the open wine bottle, are very efficient tools since they
prevent your wine from oxidising rapidly.
Guidance with regards
to the serving temperature
At which temperature should your wine be served?
Each type of wine should be served at the right temperature: when wine is too cold, it is “frozen” and neither its
taste nor its texture can be perceived anymore. On the contrary, a too high temperature decreases wine’s delicacy
by 30 to 70%, and it accentuates alcohol perception. Wine is then said to become “warm”.
In a room at 25°C (77 ° F) a chilled wine served in a glass will increase
its temperature by 2 to 3°C (36 to 37 ° F) every 10 minutes.
On the other hand, the wine remaining in the bottle which hasn’t been kept in a refrigerating system (wine cooler,
ice bucket…) increases its temperature much more slowly: about 2°C (36 °F) every 20 minutes in a room at 25°C
(77°F). Therefore, if you take your wine out of the cellar 4 hours before the tasting and place it in the room at 25°C
(77°F), your wine will be served way too warm! To conclude, heat is worse for wine than coolness. What you can
do, especially when it is warm outside, is to serve your wine relatively cold and to let it increase its temperature
progressively.
From 16° to 18°C (61° to 64°F)
Medium red wine,
powerful red wine
From 14° to 16°C (57° to 61°F)
18°
17°
16°
Soft red wine
15°
From 10° to 12°C (50° to 54°F)
14°
Powerful dry white wine,
full-bodied rosé wine,
vintage sparkling white wine,
white wine likely to oxidise, sweet natural wine
From 8° to 10°C (46 to 50°F)
Soft dry white wine,
soft rosé wine, sweet natural white wine,
mellow wine, syrupy wine, sparkling wine
13°
12°
EXAMPLES : Grand Bourgogne, Rhône,
Provence, Languedoc Roussillon,
Sud-ouest, Bordeaux, Grand Bordeaux
EXAMPLES : Bourgogne,
Beaujolais, Loire
EXAMPLES : White Bourgogne,
vintage Champagne,
White Rhône
11°
10°
9°
8°
EXAMPLES : Alsace, Champagne,
syrupy Bordeaux, dry white Loire wine,
sweet white Loire wine
Did you know?
Syrupy or sweet wine is tastier
after decanting.
Indeed, air contribution will develop the wine’s aromatic
potential and body, which will become softer. Decanting
will decrease the perception of sugar in the mouth and
will rather favour the expression of its delicate flavour.
Is it possible to decant
Champagne or sparkling wine?
Yes, this is possible to do it in order to make wine tastier. It is however advisable to use a narrow decanter to
keep the bubbles in. This process allows sparkling wine
to become more delicate and to set down the bubbles.
How to aerate wine efficiently?
There are 3 solutions for you:
Wine is largely streamed over the decanter’s walls.
Wine is served a long time before drinking
You can use an aerator.
Aeration sets favour and allow a better oxygenation of
the wine. They are used for very young wines and which
are full of tannins. This technique reveals the wine dramatically.
Nevertheless, if the wine is young and closed, the bottle of wine can be emptied almost vertically into the
decanter. When wine is rushed through this way, it
releases its most subtle flavours. This is what we call
“falling wine into the decanter”.
As for old wine which contains sediments, the technique consists of positioning at maximum your wine
and decanter horizontally to anticipate sediment arrival. You should also ensure optimal lighting conditions
(a candle or a pocket torch) to see the very first sediments approaching the lip of the neck.
Too high temperature brings out
wine’s acidity and alcohol smell.
Too low temperature increases red
wine’s tannin but it conceals syrupy white wine’s
sweetness.
The visible crystals in some
bottles are not sugar sediments but tartaric
acid, which is wine’s natural acid that precipitates due
to coolness. The presence of tartaric acid is not sign of
low quality wine.
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