Port Decanters - what shape is best?

[urotsukidoji]

Hello, what shape decanter do you find best for VPs? Do you use the standard wine decanters most seen these days (very wide base, very narrow neck) like this one:
http://www.wineexpedition.com/wp-conten ... -thumb.gif

Or do you use something else?

[DRT]

I will happily use any decanter that provides a good wine/air contact area. The one in your picture is ideal for airing the wine but they are quite cumbersome to use when pouring. To be honest, any decanter will do the trick provided it is the correct size for the bottle you are decanting.

[urotsukidoji]

So I guess the traditional "Hoggett"
http://www.haroldcox.com/images/product ... 50x250.jpg

would prob not be best with its narrower base.

Another question, if the worst happens, and you can not finish the bottle you have decanted (I know, but it might happen), do you pour it back in the (rinsed) bottle to keep, or just leave it in the decanter with the stopper (assuming you have a stopper).

[JacobH]

My favourite types of decanters have a globe or oval-shaped bottom and then a neck with a number of ridges. Something like this:

decanter.png (3.04 KiB) Viewed 24247 times

The globe shape makes it easy to pour even the last glass, and the ridges around the neck makes it easy to hold.

I’m not so keen on the ones with a really wide base because it’s quite difficult to use them. I also have one which is a cone shape and that’s a bit of a nightmare, as the first inch of wine contains about a quarter of a glass of liquid. By the last inch it contains about 3!

[DRT]

So I guess the traditional "Hoggett"
http://www.haroldcox.com/images/product ... 50x250.jpg

would prob not be best with its narrower base.

That would do the trick - but looks hideous. I am not keen on cut glass/crystal and the mahogany base is just wrong. Nice and simple works best for me as it means you see the Port without noticing the decanter.

I like Jacob's preference, and recognise it from the cover of Mayson's book

[jdaw1]

Just noticed this thread. The definitive decanter shape is, of course, that described at www.jdawiseman.com/papers/trivia/decanter.html (or with diagrams at www.jdawiseman.com/papers/trivia/decanter.pdf).


if you know of where several dozen could be made at modest cost, please let me know.

[urotsukidoji]

I just picked up this one (not just for port) was $29.99 at "Canadian Tire";

http://www.wineenthusiast.com/final-tou ... er-set.asp

http://www.finaltouchwine.com/WDA909.html

The one I usually use for port kind of looks like the one here:
http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/a/0/0/6/ ... AAZ8Cg.jpg
(not the glasses, just the tilted decanter).

[urotsukidoji]

Follow up question. I've read how a lot of people will decant every wine they drink, be it a $400.00 bottle, or a 5-buck cheapie. Others just decant the "big" bottles. My question to you all here is, if you have the time, do you try to decant all the port you drink? VPs, as well as Tanwies and LBVs? Would you ever bother decanting a Ruby? Obviously only VPs or crusted ports need the sediment filtration, but would you say the others would still benefit from the aeration?

[Alex Bridgeman]

I will decant pretty much any type or bottle of port which I drink if it is ruby or colheita. The only ports I wouldn't decant would be a basic white port (which I would probably mix with tonic) or a pink port (if I were to open one).

I did once try an experiment with two bottles of Bin 27. One was decanted, one was not. The decanted bottle tasted much better for the first 2-3 days and the non-decanted bottle only really caught up when it was half empty and there was plenty of air contact with the wine.

If you want to try a similar experiment for yourself, pour a glass of ruby port and fill a half bottle with the same ruby port. Put them both into a cool (cellar temperature 12-16C) place and leave them for 6-12 hours. Then pour a glass from the half bottle and taste the two glasses against each other. My taste has the pre-poured (ie decanted) glass better than the other.

[urotsukidoji]

That bottle that was open for 3 days.... do you just leave it in the decanter with the stopper (assuming you have a stopper) for the entire period of time? Do you pour back into the orig bottle. The only decanter I have with a stopper, has a glass one. and is not 100% air tight, I'm guessing 3 days in there would not be beneficial.

[DRT]

I would like to do an experiment with a 6 pack of something nice - let's say Vesuvio 1994 or similar. Six port geeks meet in a convenient location. One of them, appropriately financially compensated by the other five, arrives with six bottles of the same wine from the same case that have each been decanted at four hour intervals. The bottles have been decanted by someone not at the tasting (or are otherwise blinded from the carrier) and the group proceed to taste each of the six with no idea as to the decanting sequence.

Any volunteers?

[SushiNorth]

That bottle that was open for 3 days.... do you just leave it in the decanter with the stopper (assuming you have a stopper) for the entire period of time? Do you pour back into the orig bottle. The only decanter I have with a stopper, has a glass one. and is not 100% air tight, I'm guessing 3 days in there would not be beneficial.

Actually, the goal is to increase air time, so it isn't necessary even to glass-stopper the bottle, though I might suggest putting a piece of paper over the top to keep out the dust. You'll find on this forum quite a bit of information on the evolution of a wine in the hours and days following decanting it. Look up the tasting notes on the port you are opening to see what we have found for past bottles.

[urotsukidoji]

Thanx! That is the exact info I was looking to confirm.

[Alex Bridgeman]

That bottle that was open for 3 days.... do you just leave it in the decanter with the stopper (assuming you have a stopper) for the entire period of time? Do you pour back into the orig bottle. The only decanter I have with a stopper, has a glass one. and is not 100% air tight, I'm guessing 3 days in there would not be beneficial.

When I decant, I use a decanter with a glass stopper that is not airtight but will keep the dust and bugs out of the wine. I also try to keep the decanter in a cool place, ideally at cellar temperature. The bottle that was not decanted but was just opened, was left in the bottle - no decanting, no double decanting, nothing. Just opened and poured. And kept at cellar temperature alongside the decanter when not being used.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I would like to do an experiment with a 6 pack of something nice - let's say Vesuvio 1994 or similar. Six port geeks meet in a convenient location. One of them, appropriately financially compensated by the other five, arrives with six bottles of the same wine from the same case that have each been decanted at four hour intervals. The bottles have been decanted by someone not at the tasting (or are otherwise blinded from the carrier) and the group proceed to taste each of the six with no idea as to the decanting sequence.

Any volunteers?

I would be quite interested to do this. We would have to do it with something that was relatively mature but in either plentiful or cheap supply. Are Virgin Wines still selling the Roeda 1987 (or was it Corte 1987) for £17 a bottle?

[mosesbotbol]

If the port is not being served that night, I pour it back into the bottle and cork it.

I like most variations of the pineapple shaped decanters. I don't want them to be too heavy, and certainly not too wide either.

[DRT]

I would like to do an experiment with a 6 pack of something nice - let's say Vesuvio 1994 or similar. Six port geeks meet in a convenient location. One of them, appropriately financially compensated by the other five, arrives with six bottles of the same wine from the same case that have each been decanted at four hour intervals. The bottles have been decanted by someone not at the tasting (or are otherwise blinded from the carrier) and the group proceed to taste each of the six with no idea as to the decanting sequence.

Any volunteers?

I would be quite interested to do this. We would have to do it with something that was relatively mature but in either plentiful or cheap supply. Are Virgin Wines still selling the Roeda 1987 (or was it Corte 1987) for £17 a bottle?

Morgan 91?

[JacobH]

What about using halves? In that case we could either a) do 12 bottles decanted at different times or b) move on to something else afterwards.

[graemerd]

This site contains information on various port decanter styles - Port Decanter.co.uk.

Most people think of the wide based ships decanter when they think of port decanters - my preference is the hoggett with it's useful shape and talking point round bottom.

[JacobH]

The Rozès stall at the Big Fortified Tasting had a decanter which I had not seen before for it’s 40-year-old tawny: a large flared base crystal decanter which sat on top a small ice-bucket. The base of the decanter was shaped into a downwards point, presumably to increase its surface-area contact with the ice. I wonder how effective such things are at regulating the temperature of the Port?

[DRT]

I wonder how effective such things are at regulating the temperature of the Port?

Probably not as effective as they are at looking good

[graemerd]

I saw a decanter once that had an ice compartment that looked like a bubble of glass inside the decanter with it's own seperate stopper. You loaded the ice into the bubble and the wine surrounds the bubble inside the decanter. Very good for white wine (maybe white port!).Port Decanter range at Cotswold Port

[Alex Bridgeman]

I saw a decanter once that had an ice compartment that looked like a bubble of glass inside the decanter with it's own seperate stopper. You loaded the ice into the bubble and the wine surrounds the bubble inside the decanter. Very good for white wine (maybe white port!).Port Decanter range at Cotswold Port

I've got something similar for Sangria or Pimms. Essentially mine is a large claret jug with a wide mouthed tube that fits inside the neck of the jug and acts as a filter to block larger pieces of fruit from being poured out. Iced water is put inside the tube and keeps the contents of the jug cool for a while.

[WineLoverPT]

I realise this thread is somewhat old, and some of the image links are dead, but I thought I'd join it rather than start a new, similar, one.
I'm pretty new to port, and I was wondering what are the characteristics to look for in the "ideal" Port Decanter.
I have one of these, rather lovely looking, chaps...

(which I bought from here http://myvistaalegre.com/pt/oz-garrafa- ... vn-liso-pt)
which I use for the daily wine.
But I'm starting to wonder if it's as functional as it ought to be - it holds 800ml, so the full bottle goes quite a way up the neck, giving not much air contact, which seems to be the key. But I like the way the wine pours into it - spreading out around the bottle. I also like its weight (although the wife not so much)
Cotswoldportworld, referred to above, advertises this guy, which it says holds 1 litre...

but I'm unsure in that picture whether it's showing a whole bottle, and thus a huge amount of air contact, or that's showing a part bottle, and a full bottle would be going up the neck like mine.
The same site sells a "Hoggett Decanter", which it says holds 75cl - a full bottle, so that would surely have minimal air contact.

So, my question is, aesthetics aside - what are the ideal characteristics of a Port Decanter?

[Alex Bridgeman]

I don't think that we've ever conducted an experiment with different decanter shapes to see what shape give the best result. At offlines we've used 1 litre bottles, 75cl bottles, decanters of various shapes and just straight pours from bottle. Given our recent experience with bottle variation from the same port from the same case I'm not sure that even if we knew what the ideal decanter was, whether it would make a difference when compared to the differences coming from bottle variation.

So if I assume that the impact of the decanter on the wine is not so important, it comes down to personal preference. I really like the wide based ships decanters but they take up so much space that I find them a little impractical. Instead I prefer a tear drop shaped decanter as that sits comfortably in the hand but is also space efficient.

I would also speculate that the act of decanting port exposes the port to sufficient air for the evolution to start and that little air contact is needed after that. Because I tend to drink a bottle of port over several (3-5) days I tend to use decanters that don't expose a large surface area to the air; that way I find I enjoy tasting the changes in the port over several days, often finding my preferred flavour profile is around day 3.