opIf you have never heard of a decanter before, but began to take an interest in wine, sooner or later this necessary attribute of serving wine will require close study. There is a wide range of wine decanters available on the market, and choosing the proper one might be a deal. So, let’s find out what is a wine decanter, what wine to decant, and how to decant the wine. Our review answers all these questions and compares 5 wine decanters and helps to discover the best one, that fits your needs perfectly.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Wine Decanter?
- How to Decant Wine
- Comparison of 5 Best Wine Decanters
- Best Wine Decanters
- Wine Decanter vs Aerator
- What is Shock Decanting
- Regular Wine Decanting
- Why do People Need Wine Decanters?
- Why Is It Important to Choose the Right Decanter?
- What Decanter is the Best for Red Wine?
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Decant and enjoy your wine
What Is a Wine Decanter?
Simply put, wine decanter is a vessel to hold wine. It is primarily for those wine that may contain any sediments which are naturally occurring within most red wines. There are numerous reasons for using a wine decanter. First of all, it separates the wine inside from any sediment so that you have a smooth finishing wine. In addition to this, a wine decanter supposedly works to aerate wine. That is why its aromas and flavors are brought out more and become more distinctive by the time it comes to the serving.
How to Decant Wine
Wine decanting is a simple process when using a wine decanter. First, open the bottle of wine that you wish to taste, and your decanter. Pour your wine into the decanter as slowly as possible but ensure that you do not stop. This is because, pouring slowly ensures that sediment stays inside the original bottle, and within your decanter, you have a smooth and clear wine. When approximately half of the bottle is poured, pour even more slowly so that you can stop when you see the sediment reach the neck of the bottle. That’s all! Then you just need to wait till your wine will be ready to drink.
Comparison of 5 Best Wine Decanters
The type of wine decanter that will give you the best results in terms of a full, rich flavor is highly dependent on what red wine you intend to enjoy. According to many wine experts, we should pour full-bodied red wines such as Tempranillo or Cabernet Sauvignon merely in a wine decanter with a wide base. On the contrary to this, for light-bodied wines such as Pinot Noir, a small/medium decanter would be better.
Either way, choosing a decanter can be a big deal. Not only do different red wines require various vessels. Sometimes events of high importance, such as weddings or anniversaries, also deserve a special wine decanter. Last but not least, the wine decanter should be combined with the red wine glasses as a single ensemble. Then the enjoyment of wine will be all-encompassing.
Therefore, we reviewed 5 wine decanters to make it easier for you to choose the best one. All of them have distinctive features in manufacturers, quality, and design. But each is good in its way and deserves your attention.
| Name of Decanter | Main Characteristics | Volume | More Info |
| Le Chateau Wine Decanter | Lead-free crystal made, perfectly fits a standard 750ml bottle, wide surface area allows for maximum aeration, easy-pour slanted spout. | 946 ml | |
| HICOUP Crystal Wine Decanter | Sleek, modern design, drip free pouring, can be used for more than just wine, plenty of space for effective aeration. | 800 ml | |
| YouYah Iceberg Wine Decanter | Bottle stopper using a waterfall pouring design, faster aerating, filter for sediment removal. | 1400 ml | |
| Alarue Wine Decanter | Large breathing surface area, anti-drip coating. | 750 ml | |
| Reidel Ultra Decanter | Hand-made crystal, large capacity with a wide base for aerating space. | 1200 ml |
Best Wine Decanters
Wine Decanters essentially are used for pouring the contents from a wine bottle into another vessel, and this will be merely the wine decanter. They work by separating sediments in older wines and especially aerating them in this particular way. As you have slowly and carefully poured wine from the bottle into the wine decanter, it takes in oxygen, and this process helps bring out the flavors. So, decanting wine allows particularly harsh and overbearing notes and flavors within your wine to evaporate, leaving behind a much softer and natural taste.
Best Wine Decanter as a Gift: Le Chateau Wine Decanter
The Le Chateau wine decanter is arguably one of the best decanters available as an all-round gift. It’s labeled as an ‘Amazon’s Choice’ product and has a beautiful, but simplistic design, which looks of very high quality. This wine decanter is supposedly made out of ‘Hand Blown Lead-free Crystal Glass’. Generally, it has a wide base and sleek spout, which all work together for the perfect wine aeration. The product prides itself on its promise to hold a standard wine bottle of 750ml. It is something that a lot of other wine decanters may lack; Having the appropriate space to accommodate even a standard bottle. The Le Chateau decanter would be a good idea if you’re looking for one which doesn’t break the bank, but still looks beautiful and effectively aerates your red wine.
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Yes, if you’re looking for a good wine decanter to gift, this one is good, as it isn’t over-priced and looks great on any table or as a staple piece. It’s easy to use and does make an impact on the flavor of the wine, that can’t even be replicated in some higher-end wine decanters. The only suggestion would be to ensure you’re careful with it, to avoid any breakage.
Best Wine Decanter on a Budget: HICOUP Crystal Wine Decanter
The HICOUP Crystal Wine Decanter is great if you’re looking for an inexpensive, but still effective product. The decanter uses lead-free crystal glass, in a shape that would look great on any table or mantlepiece, using a curved and sleek U-shaped design. The HICOUP decanter promises an “intense aerating” due to the double-ended opening, allowing oxygen to react with the red wine from both sides, therefore having a larger coverage. This decanter also offers “drip-free pouring” due to the thin lip design. Unlike most decanters, which are good only red wine, this one can be used with a wide range of drinks from orange juice to rose and white wine too.
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Well, the decanter looks beautiful. It’s the kind of thing you can place in the middle of the table and admire. In terms of looks, we would recommend it, but when it comes to quality, the material is a bit cheap (for the price, you can’t ask for more). It has a more plastic and flimsier feel as opposed to expensive crystal glass. Then again, if you’re looking for a decanter on a budget, and ensure that you’re very careful with it, then you can’t go wrong with this decanter.
Best Wine Decanter Overall: YouYah Iceberg Wine Decanter
The YouYah Iceberg wine decanter is the most pristine in terms of technology. Unlike most standard wine decanters, this one uses filtering technology and a waterfall process, and these are features that put it ahead of the rest. The iceberg promises a ‘faster and more efficient aerating effect’. This is because it contains a bottle stopper which, upon pouring wine into it, increases the contact area between the wine and air due to disrupting the decanting process (as the wine gently trickles down). The wine decants in the process on the way down to the jar. So, instead of waiting a long time for your wine to decant, you only need to spend the 3 minutes it takes you to pour the wine slowly. Not only do these features massively improve the aerating process, but the fine filter within the bottle stopper removes sediments and any negative oxygenates. And of course, we cannot fail to mention the gorgeous design, with a base that mimics the Alps.
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Because there were genuinely no cons, I would certainly say that this product has a huge thumbs up. It’s affordable for the quality and offers anything you would expect from a top-class wine decanter, all while looking beautiful in the process.
Best Wine Decanter as a Centrepiece: Alarue Wine Decanter
The Alarue wine decanter is one that is focused on its simplicity, but at the same time, it would be the center of your table. The circular cork stopper makes the piece look extremely elegant. And although it may not look like it, its capacity is 1200ml. This wine decanter has a very wide base, which allows for an increased aerating surface. Due to the large oxygen to wine-surface contact.
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In all honesty, in terms of the price, you can probably get slightly more advanced wine decanters with more efficient technology available on the market, for an even lower price. Let’s say, if you’re looking for the highest quality, then this is the one for you. But in terms of actual decanting, it might be worth opting for a different one for the price.
Best Wine Decanter for Quality of Material: Riedel Ultra Decanter
The Riedel Ultra Decanter is a beautiful piece and is of the highest quality using fine Riedel crystal. The decanter has an elongated neck and wide base that allows sediments to settle, ensuring they do not stay within the wine. The decanter also has a large capacity and is known to be great for releasing the full flavor of your wine.
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You get your money worth thanks to the high quality and all of its features such as advanced aeration. However, is it’s not a product to opt for if you’re on a tight budget.
Wine Decanter vs Aerator
You may be wondering about the difference between wine decanting and wine aeration. Both serve the same function. Effectively wine decanting introduces more oxygen into the liquid, which in turn, brings the flavors out more. It is the same process as what aerating your wine does. The easiest way to aerate your wine is to swirl it in your glass. It coats the wine around your glass and effectively forces the liquid to expand, as the more liquid surface can react with oxygen. If you want to take your aerating game to the next step, you can use an automatic, handheld aerator. These machines effectively swirl your wine through a ‘bubbler’, so that more liquid can get into contact with oxygen. However, although an aerator sounds like a good idea, investing in a decanter would be not worth, if you’re aiming to be the perfect wine connoisseur. It is because they not only provide you with this aerating process but also filter out sediment, creating a much more smooth and flavorsome experience.
What is Shock Decanting
There are different ways to use your wine decanter, believe it or not. The first way is called Shock Decanting, also known as Splash-Decanting. It involves pouring the bottle of wine into your decanter while holding both vertical. Because of the angle, you hold the wine bottle at, the wine will hit the bottom of the decanter directly (hence the name, splash). As this involves vigorous swirling in the wine decanter, more oxygen comes into the red wine. So, this can become a good method for really bringing out those vibrant and rich flavors.
Regular Wine Decanting
Regular decanting is following the process as described earlier- whereby you pour your wine into the decanter slowly, allowing oxygen to combine with the wine and create a more flavorsome experience.
Why do People Need Wine Decanters?
A wine decanter can be essential for wine connoisseurs. They serve multiple features, such as separating wine from sediments (particularly in older wines, rather than new ones). And the aeration process within wine decanting brings out the wine’s vibrant natural flavors and aromas, that may be lost if drinking straight from a bottle into a glass.
Why Is It Important to Choose the Right Decanter?
You’d better do your research when it comes to purchasing your wine decanter. The reason is that various decanters available on the market serve different purposes. Such as some are focused on filtering out sediment merely, as opposed to aerating your wines. So, you need to choose a wine decanter depending on what wine do you prefer. A wine decanter may have a significant impact on the flavors and intensity of the aroma that you get. These key factors, as we have already known, not least depend on the shape, the size, or material of a wine decanter
What Decanter is the Best for Red Wine?
First of all, we decant red wines. So, decide on what red wine do you like most of all. As we know, not only special wine glasses are recommended for Burgundy, Bordeaux, Pinot Noir, or Shiraz wines. For each of these wines, a specific wine decanter may be more or less suitable. Different sizes of decanters serve various purposes. For example, it’s better to use larger decanters for full-bodied wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, or Shiraz. For more light-bodied wines such as Pinot Noir a smaller or medium-sized, chill decanter would be more suitable.
In any case, your choice will be based on knowing what qualities of red wine you want to highlight and which ones to get rid of.
The decanters that work best for all types of red wine are, in general, decanters with a wide base that allows for maximum aeration. Though the size may vary depending on the body of wine you wish to decant.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
There are several useful skills for wine connoisseurs worth to know before buying a wine decanter. They are not that difficult to use. For example, knowing when to decant a particular red wine will help you not to aerate it for too long. After all, excessive oxygenation can also impair the taste of red wine, and it is worth to remember. It is also helpful to know the serving temperature of red wine and enjoy it to the fullest. Because it directly affects the change in wine taste. We have selected some interesting topics for a more detailed immersion in the process of wine decanting.
Make sure you pay attention to the price of the decanter. Sometimes, cheaper decanters can be better in terms of their features. But more often, more expensive decanters will probably have higher quality glass and material, which may improve your red wine experience.
How to Decant Wine Easily?
Just remember that it’s an easy process. All you have to do is slowly pour the contents of your wine bottle into your wine decanter. Leave the wine to decant for a while, and that’s all. The art of wine decanting contains maybe a kind of show element. Your favorite red wine, the right atmosphere, the right wine decanter, and the proper wine glasses are the elements for enjoying wine.
Does the Style of a Wine Decanter matter?
Be sure you are also paying attention to the style of your decanter. Some have an elongated and narrow design, whereas some have a very wide base. If you’re looking for the proper aerating experience, you may use one with a wider base. It provides a larger liquid area in contact with oxygen. And of course, don’t forget about the same style of a decanter and wine glasses.
How to Clean Wine Decanter?
Although it’s tempting, try to avoid putting your wine decanter into a dishwasher. This may damage it or cause scratches/chips due to the fragile glass. The best way to clean your decanter is to handwash it. Start by rinsing it with very warm water and leave it to soak for a few minutes. After this, pour some white vinegar inside, into the water, and swirl the liquid around. Cover the top of the decanter and shake to clean. Once this is done, pour out, rinse once again with water, and dry.
Does Wine Go Bad in a Decanter?
If your wine decanter comes with a cork or a specialized lid that can be used with it, this will preserve your wine, and therefore it shouldn’t go bad. However, you should consume the wine within your decanter in around 2-3 days. This is just to ensure the freshness and quality of your wine.
Do we Decant White Wine or Rose?
While you can, most white wines and roses don’t need to decant. This is because most have already strong and aromatic flavors. The only reason you could decant a white or rose wine is if it has been labeled as “reduced”. But if you’d like to experiment, then decant your favorite white wine, pour it into the proper white wine glass and enjoy the art wine decant even if you are decanting white wine.
Decant and enjoy your wine
A Wine decanter is a great investment, and there are thousands available on the market. Ensure that you shop around and find the proper decanter that suits all your needs. It lets you complement your wine and will bring out its natural flavors and aromas, depending on your budget and style of design you want. Regardless, there’s something for everyone out there. So, Decant and enjoy your wine!
