Port wine

How to Decant Port Wine

There is a certain way that you will want to serve your guests port wine, especially if you are looking to impress them. In order to decant the port you will need a specially designed port decanter. It is a very easy process to learn, and once you have done it on your own a few times you will be able to go through the process with ease.

 

Port has been decanted by wine experts for many centuries and had become somewhat of a ritual and tradition, which has become lost on many people. There may no longer be an understanding of why you should decant port wine because of the sense of urgency that has become the norm in society today. Still, for many wine connoisseurs, drinking a vintage port wine without allowing it to be decanted first is blasphemy. Decanting a port that has aged in the bottle will allow you to rid the wine of any sediment that has collected. This will also allow you to enjoy it more, as well as opening up the flavors for a better taste.

 

You need to prepare your port to be decanted by standing it straight up for a few days, if it has been laying on its side in your wine cellar. Once a few days have passed and you are ready to drink the port wine you can uncork the bottle. Pour the port into the specially designed Port decanter slowly, in order to not loosen the sediment that settled to the bottom of the bottle while it was standing. Do not rush yourself; otherwise you will end up having sediment in the decanter that will take away from the taste of the port.

 

If you are not confident that you can pour the port without getting some sediment in the bottle, you can use a special port funnel lined with cheesecloth to pour the port into the decanter. Any sediment that gets shaken loose will be filtered out of the port when poured through the cheesecloth.