Grape Wine Journey

Decanters.. we all know about them. They come in different shapes and sizes. Some are round, some shaped like funnels, others like swans, ducks, musical instruments, and even elongated poisonous snakes.

Yes, I’m talking about the range of decanters from Riedel, the company famous for making different shaped and sized glasses for different wine varietals. But while Riedel has certainly made its point with its wine glasses, it doesn’t feel the same way with decanters. In fact, Riedel doesn’t feel anything of the sort when it comes to decanters except that it has to look good on the table, hence its emphasis on design and style.

It’s a bit counter-intuitive, since all of us are told that different wines require different periods for airing before they are ready to be drunk. It’s natural then to assume that the shape, volume, and mouth opening, of a decanter can somehow be customised for different vintages, if not different types of wine.

Not so, according to Riedel. To paraphrase Riedel’s rep in Hong Kong, decanters are used for two reasons, filtering out the sediment, or getting the odour of the cork out of the wine (airing for a few minutes) after its been sitting on the shelf for an extended period.

In both cases, it doesn’t really matter what the shape or size of the decanter is as long as it looks good on the table. If you are using a decanter for young wines, you can simply shake it inside any type of container – including an ice bucket, in which case the shape and size also doesn’t matter.

And it is not just Reidel that have this sentiment. Recently, we visited the esteemed winemaker, Quintarelli, Francesco Quintarelli, one of the grandsons of the famous Giuseppe Quintarelli, advised against using decanters altogether.

His father, who is the principle taster of the winery’s nectars before they are deemed ready for bottling, told Francesco that using a decanter to get a wine ready is like “slapping a baby” to wake up the wine. You might succeed in getting the wine ready to drink in a short period of time, but there’ll be a lot of ruckus going on.

To properly prepare a wine for consumption (might I say, appreciation), open it a day before, pour a little out, and gentle replace the cork, he said. That way the wine gets to air gently through the porous wood, rousing on its own terms.

Whether or not any of us have the time to do so in Hong Kong is another story. But if you ever get the chance to open a bottle of Quintarelli’s Valpolicella or Amarone, then it is definitely something to keep in mind.