I came to wonder how do you guess or estimate for how long before service to decant an unknown bottle? Im trying to time it to be served with a meal. If I decant it too soon, it might lose what it still had of structure, if I don't do it soon enough, it might not do it service.
A friend of mine was gifted this bottle of Chateau Les Brandes Lussac Saint Emilion 1995. Unfortunately I haven't found reference to this specific label. Maybe it changed to Chateau LA Brande (a cheap label it seems) ? It doesn't look very expensive, for which I am a bit skeptical if it still holds. The person who gifted my friend this bottle told him to decant it for 4 h prior to drinking it. I am afraid that might be excessive.
I'm thinking maybe the best would be to coravin an oz, see how it looks/tastes and if it could still benefit from decanting/aeration for several hours, or just open it before service.
Just wanted to hear your thoughts if you were so kind, thank you.
by FloppyDrone
7 Comments
It won’t hurt to decant it and let it rest for an hour and then see. Part of the experience is the unknown in the wine.
I wouldn’t decant it for 4 minutes… hope it’s hanging on for you
Tasting it when you open it will give you a bunch of clues as to how long you should decant. Unfortunately, it’s not an exact science, and the only way to really know is to try a bottle first. You would be locked in for the 2nd bottle. That being said, I would have a different bottle on hand to drink while you wait, maybe a chablis or something light that you can switch off from as your decanted bottle opens. Tasting a wine and seeing how it evolves is one of my favorite things about opening an unknown bottle, so just have fun and enjoy the process.
The point of decanting is to aerate it, or add oxygen to the wine to let it open up. Essentially it is speeding up the ageing process.
Wines this old do not often need decanting, it will just make them fade or spoil faster. Open it, try it and see where it is at. I never decant wines before tasting upon opening the bottle, how else do you know what it needs or can benefit from?
Using a coravin to taste is fine, but usually when you only have one bottle, just open it and taste. What do you have to lose?
Enjoy!
I think coravin and let sit is a great option!
But also the primary reason I would decant this bottle would be to avoid sediment in the glass. Given its age and unknown origins it has the potential to kind of fizzle out after opening; conversely it could really develop over time.
It’s old for this wine, although a v. good vintage, so I wouldn’t leave it in a decanter long before drinking it, the air will likely make the wine collapse of you leave it too long. I would decant and drink if I were you.
It’s a 30yo minor right bank, excess oxygen is unlikely to do it favours. Pour, taste, if not quite right then decant, shake it up and let sit for 15min.
(In general, don’t plan ahead for decanting for oxygen, unless it’s the Nth bottle of the same wine you’re opening and can plan ahead with that information. For a single bottle, if you think you have to decant you’re probably just opening a wine too early. If you open a wine, taste it and think it needs oxygen — then decant.)