William Hanson
Posts
A Lesson In Pour Decisions

A Lesson In Pour Decisions

It's all kicking off in the upper circle, and I unveil the history and art of wine decanting.

William Hanson
April 14, 2024

Dear Reader,

How has your week been? Absolutely delightful, I hope! I’m still tossing and turning in bed waiting for an update on Swiss-gate (my official airport scandal here), but otherwise, everything is going along superbly!

I saw Bananarama at the London Palladium, which was a blast, notwithstanding someone two seats along in the upper circle decanting their cheap gin into a plastic cup. Restraint isn’t the word, it was almost a Banana-drama.

Speaking of decanting, did you know that the noble decanter owes its existence to an Englishman?

No, it wasn’t me.

Carafe culture

The Wine Glass by Johannes Vermeer, c. 1660

History of the decanter

The ancient Greeks and Romans favoured simple clay jugs and the like for storing wine. Eventually, the Romans, ever the craftsmen, mastered the art of glass-blowing. Yet, astonishingly, the concept of decanting remained as elusive as a sober monk in a brewery until a mere three centuries ago!

Did you know the Romans even drank wine at breakfast because it was considered safer than water? They’d also thin wine with water often to not be plastered 24/7.

Enter George Ravenscroft, a chap with a like for Venetian lace and glass, who introduced the delights of crystalline glass to the thirsty masses of England in the 1670s. Drawing inspiration from this, Ravenscroft fashioned various glassware styles, eventually birthing the noble decanter in the 1700s.

What does a decanter do?

When wines moved around the world they suffered an unpalatable fate during their voyages, gathering sediment along the way. These remnants would only reveal themselves once poured into a glass, much to everyone’s distaste.

Hence, the decanter emerged as a saviour, a vessel designed to liberate wine from any murky muck. While modern winemaking has resolved this issue, the trusty decanter goes on, mainly to allow the wine to breathe and reach a more balanced, fuller flavour; its purpose has evolved but its place at the table is assured.

How do you decant wine correctly?

Mr Carson decanting for dinner.

In the days of Downton Abbey, decanting might have been an anal ritual, if you oppose that sort of thing, performed by the butler (see diagram below). Luckily, times have moved on and such a contraption is unnecessary.

Instead, simply bring your wine out of storage and pour into your decanter about 30 minutes before you intend to serve it.

How to serve wine at the table

As I demonstrated here in one of this week’s videos, serving wine is done from the guest’s right side. Never rest the bottle or decanter on the glass itself, hold it an inch or two above, and if you are serving from the bottle, a little twisting motion at the end will help you knock your drops off.

Bonus Tip: Pour straight down keeping the glass on the table - there’s no need to pick it up nor tilt the glass like you would with something fizzy.

Thank you for getting your hands on some Help I Sexted My Boss cinema tickets, we can’t go anywhere and everywhere, but through the magic of cinema, we can do our best.

Wishing you a lovely spring Sunday,