Wine decanters: In a previous post we talked about the difference between decanted, aerated and jarreo. Well, this time we will show you the different types of decanters and their utilities.
Index
What is a decanter?
The decanter is a jewel of glassware, made from blown glass that has its primary origin in the ancient Roman clay amphorae that were used to serve wine.
However, according to many historians, they would derive from the evolution of French liquors that the French began to use for decanting and serving wine.
At present these classic wine decanters have evolved and turned towards the so-called aerators .
What is a wine decanter for?
Decanters have several functions.
The main one is to aerate so that the reduction aromas disappear. After the wine has been bottled for a long time, it usually has some unwanted aroma that is closed or musty. These are the unwanted reduction aromas we met in our glass. With the decanting we are going to eliminate them.
The other important effect that takes place on wine when decanting is oxygenation. The wine opens and aromas are enhanced that in case of not decanting we need to keep the bottle open for 30-45min.
The third effect that we achieve when decanting the wine is that it can be consumed before in perfect service conditions.
The decanters will also help us to separate the natural grounds of the wine since they can be seen when pouring it and prevent them from falling.
Types of Decanters
A multitude of types of decanters are distinguished depending on their designs and utilities.
But focusing on the usefulness of each of them related to its design, we will mainly distinguish two types of decanters:
- Maximum oxygenation
- Minimum oxygenation
Maximum oxygenation wine decanter
The maximum oxygenation decanter or also called aerators are those that, due to the width of the mouth and the structure of its walls, allow the wine to break when falling into the container and to become oxygenated or airy.
With this, what we will achieve is to eliminate the usual reduction aromas, that is, those unpleasant aromas of a cave, in a closed room,… that we find in a wine that has spent many years in the bottle.
The maximum oxygenation wine decanter would be the ideal decanter to use with reserve and large reserve wines.
Minimum oxygen decanter
Furthermore, the decanters of low oxygenation , are those narrow neck and inclination of the walls less pronounced that allow wine to slide the walls of the container without breaking, so get the function we want from the pure decanted without giving lead to undue oxidation of the wine.
We will use this last type of wine decanter, either to eliminate wine sediments or precipitates due to the passage of time in the bottle when we consider that they do not need to be “opened”.
Or for young wines that require decanting because they are unfiltered wines , which need to be decanted so that the natural sediments of the wine do not reach the glass and produce those unpleasant sensations in the mouth.
On the other hand, it should be noted that decanters are always good to have accompanied by some very useful instruments for decanting, such as the candle, to visualize the situation of the sediment through the glass in the bottle to prevent them from falling into the decanter, and especially funnels.
There are two types of funnels to use with wine decanters, and depending on what we are looking for in our wine service, they will help us filter the wine or the oxygenation of the wine.
Thus we have separatory funnels with sloping spout and filter. And aeration funnels that, thanks to the grooves of the spout, expand the wine towards the walls of the decanter with force, causing aeration and oxygenation.
Design decanters
Finally, note that currently we can find decanters of the most varied and minimalist design that we can imagine, and that it will not always be linked to the usefulness or purpose of decanting wine.
Thus, there have been many architects or designers who have entered the world of wine through the design of decanters, among which we can highlight:
Decanter Etienne Meneau
The wine decanters designed by the architect Etienne Meneau who designed a decanter in the shape of intertwined veins.
Decanter Matilda Sundén Ringneir
The minimalist decanter design of the architect Matilda Sundén Ringneir , which simulates a smooth bottle almost completely closed that has eight perforations at one end that causes a waterfall or rain-shaped wine service that encourages the aeration of the wine.
Decanter Jasan Ruff
Or the most classic design, within the innovation that it supposes, of the architect Jasan Ruff with a decanter with its bottom or bottom simulating the petals of a flower.
MOMA decanter
And finally, it is noteworthy for its worldwide relevance, the Moma Decanter , the Decanter of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, designed with a silver plug in its mouth, called ” the developer ” and that thanks to its six grooves in the stopper allows the passage of the wine, and according to its designers, the balance of the wine for its optimal service.
