"pavane" > wrote in message
...
|
| "Kent" > wrote in message ...
|| .........
|| In addition to the underlying quality of the wine this depends greatly on
|| how the wine was stored. At what temp.? What is the condition of the cork?
|| Most important, how much ullage is there between the bottom of the cork and
|| the wine? You might be very pleasantly surprised. Set it upright for a few
|| days. Decant into a carafe several hours before you imbibe.
| .........
| A quibble here, but I would suggest that you do NOT decant it first.
| If the wine has oxidized, due to bad cork or whatever, immediate
| decanting will throw much more oxygen into it and probably push it
| over the edge; it may not last more than a quarter hour or so. When
| you uncork it, taste it immediately. If it is "edgy" just serve it or
| put the cork back in until you are ready; if it tastes old but fine, you
| might try decanting but taste it as is against the decanted stock.
| The only places that decanting is indicated is 1) a bottle that has thrown
| obvious sediment and you want to avoid it, or 2) in an extremely fine
| older red that you know to be in good condition and powerful. Most
| professionals will taste any wine before decanting. Just common sense.

You might also want to decant, vigorously, a young and good red to get
oxygen into it and sort of "awaken" it. Sorry, I overlooked that common
use of the decanter.

pavane