Decanter - what is it? For what and where is it used?

Specialists, winemakers and wine connoisseurs know perfectly well that a lot of factors affect the taste and aroma of the drink, from the grape variety to the dishes in which it is served. To give refinement to the process of wine-drinking and further improve the quality of the product, there is a simple and at the same time quite effective device called "decanter". What is it and how to use it to achieve the desired result?

Red and White

The words "wine" and "grapes" have one root, because this drink is made exclusively from grapes. Alcohol from apples, plums and other fruits is anything but wine. Therefore, all the information offered in this article refers to natural grape wines. Traditional gradation in color divides them into red, pink and white. Pink wines have the widest palette of shades of pomegranate and ruby. The color of white wines varies from light amber to yellow-brown, similar to a weak tea brew, and the wine is "older", the darker it is. Red wines, on the contrary, grow lighter with age. This is due to the fact that the anthocyanins (coloring substances) contained in them eventually precipitate. The color of red wines is from dark maroon to gently ruby. Sediment, although it is a proof of the quality of the drink and the taste of wine does not spoil, but worsens its appearance. To remove this small defect, use a decanter. What is it and is it necessary?

What is a decanter?

Many of us are familiar with the situation: in a good restaurant, the waiter serves wine not in a bottle, but in a glass decanter, and sometimes it looks like a flask from a chemical laboratory, and sometimes has a rather bizarre shape - at the base broad, and above with a narrow neck. It is called a decanter for wine "decanter". Most often it is made of high-quality glass or crystal.

Decoration on this decanter is practically absent. This is done so that nothing distracts a person from admiring a drink, and to give greater aesthetics to the process. The decanter can be decorated only with an unusual shaped handle, stand or lid. For decoration use only neutral materials, such as gold, silver or cupronickel. Wooden, and even more so plastic elements are not allowed.

The history of decanters

Some will be surprised to learn that people used decanters before our era, beginning with the 7th century. The very first of them were ceramic and represented amphorae, in which wine was poured, before serving it to the table. Archaeologists are sure that glass decanters have found wide application in ancient Rome. However, with the fall of the power of the Roman Empire, glass production was declining. Glassware was replaced with bronze, copper, porcelain, and the relay of glass blowers moved to Venice. The local craftsmen have significantly improved the process of glass production and achieved its high purity. They also came up with a wide jug with a high narrow neck for a wine jug. The decanter of this form from those ancient times is considered to be classical and is the most common.

Functions and types of decanters

According to some sources, the word "de-canther" is of Latin origin and, in free translation, sounds like "the separation of a part from the whole without mixing." This is the essence of the process of decanting wine - to separate it from the formed sediment neatly, without stirring. But this is only one answer to the question about what a decanter is for. In addition to separating the sediment, it is used to enrich the wines with oxygen, and hence, giving them new, subtle tastes.

The third function of the decanter is purely aesthetic - to bring wine to the table with a special charm, to emphasize the sophistication of the drink and the high quality of service. Depending on the main purpose of use, there are different types of this dish. Since the precipitate is, as a rule, in aged red wines, there is one type of decanters for them. For young drinks a completely different type is used.

Decanter for aged wine

Red dyes are given to the dyeing substances that are present in the skin of blue, red and black grape varieties, from which they are made. The same components have a property with time, more precisely, after 4 years or more from the moment of manufacture, precipitate.

In white varieties of coloring substances is almost none, so it is the decanter for red wine, aged branded or collectible, has a shape that allows you to get rid of the sediment as much as possible. Outwardly it looks like a laboratory flask - round or spherical in the lower part, and in the upper one it has a narrow neck. Such a decanter can have the appearance of a classic carafe with wide "shoulders", which retard the sediment when wine is poured into glasses. Most often this action is performed for aged Bordeaux drinks. Burgundy wines are so refined and fragile that for them decanting is used extremely rarely, and even then in a decanter with a lid.

Decanter for white wine and wines without exposure

In young and white wines there is no sediment. For them, decantation is carried out solely in order to saturate them with oxygen and improve the aroma, to reveal them, as the professionals say. The shape of the decanters in this case should ensure maximum contact of the drink with air. Their lower part can be any - round, oval, trapezoid or some other, the main thing is that it should be wide. The neck of such decanters is made in the form of a funnel, allowing the flow of pouring wine to "spread out" in the form of a fan. The level of poured must not exceed the widest part of the decanter, so that the contact of the drink with the air is maximum. In recent years, even selected sparkling wines, for example champagne, are decanting. For aeration, the beverage must be in the decanter from a few minutes to several hours, otherwise it loses its quality.

How to use the decanter

In order to separate the sediment as much as possible, experienced bartenders and sommeliers have some tricks. So, bottles of wine, which are going to decant, for a while (from several hours to several days) are placed vertically. This helps the existing draft to sink to the bottom as much as possible. Be sure to light a candle during the transfer of wine from the bottle into the decanter. What does this give? If decaying aged wine, the flame of the candle will help not miss the moment when the sediment approaches the neck of the bottle. Sommelier immediately stops the process. If decanting the young wine, the candle gives the process a special charm.

To maximize the taste of aged wine, the transfusion begins by rinsing the decanter with the same beverage. To do this, it is first poured into a decanter slightly, shaken to cover the walls from inside, and poured into a separate glass. Hold the decanter by the neck or, if you need a little warm wine, at the bottom. So the warmth of the hand is transferred to the drink. It should be noted that not even all aged red wines "know how" to transfer contact with air without deteriorating their taste qualities. Such varieties, as a rule, do not decant and pour from bottles directly into glasses.

What other drinks need decanting

In addition to wine, cognacs and whiskey have a special exquisite aroma, the ritual of which includes enjoying their appearance and smell. To maximize these drinks, they also decant during the filing to the table. The decanter for whiskey and cognac is slightly different from the decanter for wine. As a rule, it is a rounded or square decanter with slightly expanded "shoulders" and a low neck, made of transparent colorless glass or crystal. Transparency allows you to enjoy a drink that adds aesthetics to the process.

Decantation is carried out in order to give the product "breathe". Previously, the rules for the use of cognacs included the procedure of slowly washing the sides of the glass with a drink. And in Ireland, and now there is a rule of "Five S", concerning whiskey. The two points of these rules are the assessment of the color of the drink and the inhalation of its flavor before consumption. So, both for whiskey and cognacs, a decanter is also needed.

Care instructions

Whatever drink is decanted - whiskey, cognac or wine - the decanter must necessarily be clean. It should be washed only manually and only with water without the addition of chemical detergents. Exclusive decanters are washed from the inside with professional brushes with a special kind of bristles, wipe only from the outside, using special napkins for this. In order for the decanter to be dry from the inside, it is dried in an inverted position on special pins or stands. Keep the ready-to-use dishes preferably separate from the rest.

Prices and manufacturers

You can buy a cheap, medium-priced and very expensive decanter. What does this cost difference mean? Cheap decanters, the cost of which is within the range of 8-20 dollars, is usually made of low grade glass, which affects the quality of decanting, as well as the performance characteristics of the dishes. Medium-priced products that cost between $ 50 and $ 80 are considered quite worthy. They are made of high-quality materials, they are good in operation and perfectly manage the functions assigned to them. They produce them for a wide network of restaurants and other pubs, in which a similar number of dishes should be enough.

The most expensive decanters are exclusive. They are produced in very small batches, sometimes single specimens and cost from thousands of dollars or more. For such dishes, the highest quality crystal is used, which does not even contain a negligible fraction of foreign compounds, and the finish is made of precious metals. The most famous brands of decanters are Spiegelau, Riedel, Schott Zwiesel.