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Decanting, caraffing, presenting, decorating - terms that sometimes drive wine lovers into a frenzy. It is also - but not only - about the right way to handle the wine. Should it be served in a bottle or in a carafe (which can also be a decanter)? At the very least, decanting and caraffing are justified in terms of proper wine care and not infrequently end in an irreconcilable "religious war". The one question: "How much air does the wine need?" This is joined by the good, but especially also the unpleasant experiences: A wine has - in the air - developed wonderfully, or - far more frequently in memory - it has collapsed in no time, dissolved into a brown, oxidised, undrinkable sauce. The other question: "Does any sediment have to be separated from the wine at all, i.e. decanted?" Does the sediment (and any suspended matter) still exist in modern wines, which are usually drunk young? Is there a need for the ritual candle that shines through the wine during decanting?

Carafe% Decanter% Decanting carafe or wine jug (Photo: Peter Züllig)

Any answer, no matter how right or wrong, inevitably leads to heated discussions. It already starts with the term: decanting or carafing? Linguistically, it is actually clear. Decanting means something like: "separating a liquid from the solid substance that has settled at the bottom". Caraffing, on the other hand, aims to aerate the wine so that the aromas can improve (or develop in the first place). But both are done in more or less the same way, and the same vessels are used, called decanter in one case and carafe in the other. Those who want to avoid the dispute that inevitably follows (from the use of language) use a decanter or even a wine jug.

It seems to me that it is no longer about the wine but about prestige. It is unthinkable that a particularly precious wine (expensive, old or rare - perhaps all of these together) should "only" be served in an anonymous glass container (a carafe). If this is nevertheless done for reasons of wine care, the bottle is also placed on the table. After all, a Bugatti is not parked in the car park in front of the villa covered up. The extent to which the subject continues to cause a stir in wine circles is shown by a post in the respected blog "Captain Cork" under the title "The decantegorical imperative", which is about decanting (pardon: caraffing) old wines: "Now, if I decant an old wine and leave it in the carafe for hours, then the bath in the jug serves only one purpose: aeration. Wine needs that, no matter what stage it's in. I have experienced it countless times. But that's exactly what the expert lobby of wine bloggers and know-it-alls warns me about. Someone once claimed that old wine should not be decanted. Since then, journalists, bloggers and other wise guys have been parroting this nonsense."

Preparing for the tasting with 30 wines - all in a carafe (Photo: Marcello Weiss)

That's where Captain Cork got massively into it, provocatively. He promptly received 31 "likes" and nine comments. The discussion continued on Facebook and in various blogs, for example: "Always act according to the maxim that you must decant the wine you want to drink first! That is my decantegorical imperative! The bottom line is: decant your wine, always!" More than fifty comments followed this seemingly absolute (but not quite clear) statement. And there - as is almost always the case with this topic - it's all about personal experience, long-held opinions and definitions of terms. For example: "Wine is usually poured from the bottle into a carafe at a good flowing speed so that the wine gets as much air as possible as quickly as possible, because many younger wines are still closed and it does them good to have an air supply, they open up faster. And already a new discussion has been started. The topic: "Decanting by fall". One of the many reactions: "What is this nonsense?" People don't understand each other, don't want to understand each other. Some of the committed debaters leave at this point at the latest: "Hey guys, wait a minute. I'm out of popcorn. Gotta make me some more."

Meissen tableware% glasses% candles and carafe (Photo: Peter Züllig)

Now I think it's time to add my "confession": "I own 36 decanter bottles, pardon, carafes. And about 100 times as many wines lie in the cellar. Both belong together: visually, epicureanly, philosophically, relationally, out of joy, out of experience, out of conviction. Because wine is not simply wine (whether old or young) and carafe is not simply carafe. Both want to present themselves as they are most beautiful, as a couple, as a dream couple. For me, this is also part of the essence of enjoying wine."

But this statement - derived from the two terms "presenting" and "decorating" - no one wants to hear anymore. What's the point? After all, the all-important question is: "Does the wine need air or not?" (see above). And that's where the discussion starts all over again. For me, every wine has to be presented. We owe it and ourselves that much. But wines - at least in the upper leagues - are more moderated than presented. The moderation, however, is all too often a babble of more or less clumsy set pieces from sensory rituals. Finished off with a verdict that is mostly based on the dogmatic judgements of high wine criticism. My answer to this is (rather) the presentation of the wine. It is allowed - for a short or somewhat longer time - to leave the bottle and take its place in a carafe: a simple one, an ornate one, a modern one, a historical one, a stylish one, as the case may be. The wine is given a Sunday dress, so to speak; a dress ranging from the simple, practical and usually also chic kind, to the "prêt-à-porter" to the "haute couture", matching the wine.

Presentation of the food (Photo: Peter Züllig)

I was recently allowed to be present at the evaluation of a restaurant for the Gault-Millau, as a silent observer. The service, the presentation, the table decoration and the composition of the menus were just as much a part of the assessment as the preparation and taste of the food. Why should it be any different with wine?

For some time now, food pairing has also been incredibly popular, the skilful combination of flavours in dishes and drinks; the search for the perfect flavour combinations, so to speak. While the food unfolds decoratively on plates and platters, the wine is supposed to compete in the culinary contest in its working clothes - not infrequently dusty, dirty and often with a cellar smell - in the uniform of the bottle? I know the objection: that's what the glasses are for, they should present themselves on the table and decorate it. That's true - but this is done rather carelessly (even in good restaurants and even more so in everyday households). In the end, the glasses are only the final dressing. This is preceded by a more or less grand ceremonial, the celebration of food and wine. It may be simple or baroque, adapted to the situation, the effort in the kitchen and the league of the wine. But it would never occur to the cook to put food on the table in the cooking pot (unless something is prepared at the table. But then the cooking vessel and the ceremony are usually very decoratively distinguished and almost always embedded in an exclusive ritual). Wine - from a wine lover's point of view - deserves this treatment just as much. That is why every wine - whether small or large, old or young - I have already said, belongs in the decanter (which may be a carafe or a fancy wine jug - depending on the terminology.

Cordially
Yours/Yours

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