Chess,

You are definitely a scientist…. LOL..

I’m not, nor claim to be an expert at this. I’m still learning how to identify smells and tastes, so this decanting element is new to me as well. I have always noticed (prior to decanting) that the more ‘bold’ wines such as young cabs with a strong tannin presence mellow out (for lack of a better description) when it sits in a glass until it reaches room temperature. That is the only basis I have for recommending one hour. I’ve found that in my home, one hour is about how long it takes for the bottle to rise to room temp when in a decanter. I also limit decanting to the cabs and P-Syrahs, and some Zins because the ones I buy are usually heavy bodied with strong tannin presence. So, keeping that in mind, it may be that while I enjoy the big reds the most out of all wines, they come with a price. The price being tannins and its associated dryness, which is something that I do not enjoy. Merlots, Pinots, Syrahs, etc that I buy tend to be mellow with little tannin. If I could just afford, and only drink heavy / bold vintage cabs, I would be in wino bliss and probably not worry about decanting for aeration reasons. As far as whites, I’m just not a big white wine fan. While I enjoy them at times, they aren’t something I have a great desire to drink. So keeping that in mind, I’d suggest that you try a fairly young (04 or 05) Cab Sav that you know is of heavy body and fruit forward. Maybe one of the Beranger reserves, one of the Flora Springs Cabs, or if you can get one, a Mount Veder Reserve Cab Sav would be an excellent test bottle. At any rate, I look forward to hearing from you after you do your ‘testing’…

Michael,

I’m still waiting for the invitation, so I’m not real sure when it will be this year. It would be cool if we end up in the Valley at the same time. We could take a couple bottles to the Rutherford Grill and have dinner. (they don’t have a corking fee and actually decant your bottle, plus, I still daydream about their cornbread).