I am studying wine as a hobby, having recently passed my CSW exam and I was wondering about wines and decanting and/or/vs aging them. I am kindly looking for any and all feedback and answers this community is willing to provide.
As background, I don't like to cellar wines for long-term aging from a practical point of view, I like the ability to just pull a bottle out of my cellar and drink it with my companion, perhaps after decanting. I am aware that decanting is not the same as aging but I was what the differences are and how to improve my experiences while still being able to enjoy wines relatively youngn.
As a point of reference, I recently drank a Muga Unfiltered Reserva 2016 after decanting for 4 hours and have my eye on a Bodegas Roda I Reserva Rioja 2016 which they recommend to let be for another 5-10 years. I was wondering if I took the right approach with the Muga and how I should approach the Roda. So on to the questions:
- What is the main difference between decanting a wine and aging it in terms of evolving the wine?
- Can they be (partially) substituted for each other or not and if so, is there a rule-of-thumb to determine how long. I.e., if a wine needs another 2years, decant for 2 hours, ...
- Is there an important difference between decanters and types of decanting? I've heard of double decanting, of decanting through an aereating filter, different shapes of decantes, and so on, and was wondering if the impact is worthwhile
- Are most wines worth decanting? We like our wines a bit softer. So for instance, for a simple bottle of Bogle Petite Sirah 2018, I decanted it for 2 hours to let the tannins mellow a bit (hopefully) but am unsure if it is an important difference
Any addition advice is welcome.
For 15 years, Athan Zafirov has traveled the vineyards around the world and worked with some of the greatest chefs including Francois Duc and Alan Brown.
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