Wine Service

I have never decanted a bottle of white wine and rarely decanted a red wine less than eight or ten years old (although sometimes a splashy passage from bottle to decanter will open up a young wine more rapidly). Because, when old, they are often fragile and susceptible to oxidation, I prefer never to decant Burgundies. Sedimented bottles of other red wines should, ideally, be stood upright in the cellar a day or two before decanting so that all loose sediment slides gently into the punt. The bottle should be moved and uncorked, upright and without jiggling, after first cutting beneath the neck ridge to remove the top of the capsule and cleaning the top of the neck and cork with a cloth or paper towel, dampened if necessary; after uncorking, the neck end should again be wiped clean, inside and out. Holding the bottle from the side that faced up when laid down, pour steadily and slowly until the glug-glugging stops and the wine flows silently, then pour more rapidly, moving the neck of the bottle over a tiny light source, candle flame or other, and stopping abruptly as soon as the first sign of sediment appears.